
Class Jl)2=_44-. 
BookJiAm 

Copyright N° 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. 



Gustavus Adolphus 
in Germany 



FROM THE GERMAN 



Loui Lalk Weinstein 



Reformation Series, Vol. II. 



1906 

The German Literary Board 

burlington, ia. 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

NOV 8 1906 

- Gogyright Entry 
CLASS /\ XXc„No, 
CC/PY B. 



J)x4 
■Ws- 



COPYRIGHT 1906 

By R. Neumann, Burlington. Ia. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

I. In the Chamber of the Queen 5 

II. A Retrospect 16 

III. In the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 23 

IV. Gustavus Adolphus' Army; Departure From 

Sweden and Arrival in Germany 37 

V. Progress in Germany 48 

VI. The Fall of Magdeburg 56 

VII. The Encampment on the Elbe and the Alli- 
ance with Saxony 67 

VIII. The Battle at Breitenfeld 75 

IX. Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March 
Through Thuringia, Franconia and 

Bavaria 82 

X. Wallenstein Again General in Chief. The 

Fortress at Nuremberg 100 

XI. The Battle at Luetzen Ill 

XII. In the Royal Church at Wittenberg 121 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany, 



I. 

In the Chamber of the Queen, 



I 



T was Sunday afternoon toward the end of January 
in the year 1630. The stillness of winter reigned 
on the parks and streets of Stockholm; the fast-fall- 
ing snowflakes veiled the outlook into the distance 
and brought a premature twilight, which was felt even 
in the apartments of the castle, although it occupied 
an elevated position. 

In muffled strokes the bells announced four 
o'clock, here and there in the village houses faint lights 
already began to glimmer. 

In the forepart of the castle with its beautiful 
view of the many cliffs and bays, far out to the break- 
ers of the Baltic sea, we find the boudoir of the queen. 
Marie Eleanor was born a princess of Brandenburg, 
and for ten years had been the wife of Gustavus Adol- 
phus, king of Sweden. Neither convenience nor poli- 
tics, but genuine love had formed this union, and pre- 
served it pure, sincere and holy, — a good model for 
the people of all ranks and classes. 

According to his daily custom when affairs of 

5 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



state did not interfere, the king on this day paid a 
visit to his wife in her apartments. They had engaged 
in pleasant conversation. Now the queen was busy 
with embroidery, while the king read from a plainly 
bound book which he had carried in his hand when he 
entered the room. 

A Sabbath afternoon ! What peace is not found 
in those hours ! The precious word of God, to which 
we have listened, elevates and hallows mind and soul, 
leaving its blessing with us through all the following 
week. 

The shadows of twilight gradually grew deeper 
in the room; the flickering fire in the grate sent a 
longer and rosier reflection across the dark carpet. 
The queen was obliged to drop her work; the king, 
however, continued reading from the little book, al- 
beit with strained eyes. 

The queen touched a silver hand-bell. It was 
the summons for the servant to bring the candles. 
While she herself remained in her easy chair, the 
king moved to the table near the fire place, that he 
might proceed with his reading. 

The queen now had the opportunity quietly to 
observe her beloved husband. Her eyes rested with 
approval on him. What a handsome man ! He was 
of powerful stature; his large blue eyes expressed 
sovereignty and gentleness. His face was oval and 



In the Chamber of the Queen. 



blond, his short, thick hair was light. His large slightly 
aquiline nose gave him a somewhat determined look, 
an impression heightened by his pointed beard. Dig- 
nity and gentleness were combined in the poise and 
movements of the king. 

The somewhat sudden smiling and gentle nodding 
of her beloved husband attracted the queen's atten- 
tion. 

"May I ask," she said "what so absorbs your at- 
tention and interest? 

She approached him, laid her arm on his shoulder, 
and cast a hasty glance into the book. 

"Autobiographical notes of my blessed father, 
king Carl IX" he read, "short reports of state and 
family affairs, thoughts and aphorisms." "It must 
also contain humorous incidents," said the queen, "for 
you were laughing over it." 

"And not without reason," answered the king; 
"hear for yourself what my father wrote." — He read: 

"On the 9th of December, 1594, at eight o'clock 
in the morning, there was born to me by my second 
wife, Christina, princess of Holstein-Gottorp, at the 
castle of Stockholm, a son, who in holy baptism re- 
ceived the name of Gustavus Adolphus. More than 
ten years previous, the celebrated Astrologist and 
Mathematician, Tycho de Brahe, read in the heavens, 
that a new star, discovered in Cassiopia, denoted a 

T 



Gustavus Adolphus %n Germany. 



great prince, born in the north, who, as the lion of 
the midnight, would perform wonderful deeds, and 
would rescue the Protestant Church from the power of 
Rome. O merciful Lord and Master! Shall this 
mercy, perhaps fall to the lot of my new-born son?" 
The king was silent a moment. Then he said: 
"My dear, good father" ; and, laying his hand on the 
page, he leaned back in his chair. 

"But has not this prophecy, in part at least, been 
fulfilled"? said the queen tenderly. "Have you not 
become a great prince in the north?" 

A faint smile spread over the king's face. 
"And moreover," continued the queen, "your 
father's own prophecy, frequently made, when his 
council endeavored to persuade him to great under- 
takings, and with a wave of the hand he pointed to 
you and said: Tile faciei/ ! (He will do it)— has 
this not been fulfilled? Speak for yourself, have you 
not during your reign of eighteen years conducted 
great wars with Russia, Poland and Denmark; en- 
hanced the power and prestige of your house and 
your kingdom ; increased the welfare of your coun- 
try and people, promoted right and justice by wise 
laws and measures, and made for yourself a great 
name with friend and foe?" 
The king heaved a sigh. 

"Consequently you should be content with your 
8 



In the Chamber of the Queen. 



efforts," continued the queen, "and enjoy the long- 
desired rest in your kingdom, and live henceforth only 
for your child and me." 

The king arose. With his hands folded behind 
him he paced the room. 

Halting before the queen he said earnestly : "And 
yet not everything is done, that my father desired. 
The key-stone is still wanting in my structure, but," — 
raising his eyes toward heaven, he said with a clear, 
bold, and determined voice : "I will yet put it in place." 

"Only not with sword in the bloody turmoil of 
battle !" argued the queen. Taking his hand, she said : 
"O, enough, enough of the care and anxiety, which 
you fiery, untamed giant of the north have caused 
me!" 

The king clasped the beloved wife in his arms. 

"Has not the strong hand of God often rescued 
you from imminent danger?" said she, raising to him 
in faithful, conjugal love eyes that were moist with 
tears. "On Widsjo sea it was, in fierce fight against 
the Danes, in the stormy night when the ice broke 
under your horse and you fell into the deep water. 
The brave rider, Jacob Ericson, saved you at the risk 
of his own life. Then again" — 

"Jacob Ericson !" exclaimed the king, visibly 
affected at the recollection of this plain man's heroic 
deed. "I bestowed upon him a farm at Igelstadt. He 

9 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



has prospered, I hear; he has doubtless grown old 
and has thrifty sons and daughters, who have mar- 
ried well. Remind me of him occasionally, Eleanor, 
that we may visit brave Ericson in his village some 
day." 

The queen did not answer; her thoughts dwelt 
on the dangers to which the king had exposed him- 
self. 

"Then again, it was three years ago in a siege 
against the Poles," she hastily continued. "You had 
attacked their camp, seized their luggage, victory was 
assured you. But while at the head of a detachment 
of infantry a musket ball wounded you in the shoul- 
der. Had it struck you a few inches lower it would 
have pierced your heart. You were carried to Dir- 
shau. There for a long time, you lay, in a strange 
land on a lonely bed of pain. O, that I might have 
been near you and nursed you !" 

"Enough, enough, Eleanor," cried the king, 
"these reminiscences excite you too much. Neverthe- 
less it is a monarch's most sacred duty to precede his 
men fearlessly in battle. Then the soldiers ignore 
any and every danger, while without a courageous 
leader the largest armies never reap fame, never make 
great conquests." 

"And was it otherwise at the Liebe river in 
Poland?" said the queen, in a tone of tender reproach. 

10 



In the Chamber of the Queen. 



''Even there you would have been lost had not the 
squadron of Erich Soop apprehended your dangerous 
position in time and rescued you from the clutches 
of the enemy." 

"And yet some day it may come to me" said the 
king pensively, almost in an undertone. 

"God forbid, God forbid" cried the queen, em- 
bracing her husband as though never, never to part 
from him. 

The king tried bravely to conceal his anxiety. 

"You will not escape me to-day," said the faith- 
ful spouse ; "and if a secret grief oppresses you — 
O, pour it out to me ! Yes, I claim my right to it. 
Did I not swear at the altar to share with you joy and 
sorrow?" 

"What need is there of many words when you 
know — ," he stopped abruptly, propped both hands 
on the table, and thoughtfully drooped his head. 

"It offended you" said the queen candidly "that 
the German emperor rendered the Poles assistance 
against you, and that on your remonstrance against 
such procedure, the arrogant Wallenstein sent you 
the contemptuous answer: "The emperor has soldiers 
enough cheerfully to supply his threatened neighbors 
and friends with them." 

"Go on, Eleanor, go on," said the king, brooding 
thoughtfully. 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



"Wallenstein's occupation of the Mecklenburger 
dukedom does not suit you." 

"Never will I consent to it" cried the king in 
quickly rising anger, "that the German cities on the 
Baltic and the North sea should become the haunts 
for the Hapsburger pirates." 

"The rejection of your embassadors from the 
peace negotiations at Lubeck" — 

"Was against all international law!" stormed the 
king, "an affront which I shall never forget. And 
never that Wallenstein, as I am correctly informed, 
wrote to General Arnim concerning the Stralsunder 
affair, that he wanted nothing to do with Sweden, be- 
cause there is nothing but lying and deceit." 

"The ruffian" said the queen excited, while Gus- 
tavus resumed his pacing. 

"A dangerous neighbor at sea" she added. "One 
who if he deemed it expedient, would blockade the 
Swedish coast, and finally burn the houses over our 
heads, did I not devise ways and means to avert this 
danger," said the king with emotion. 

Collecting himself, he stood before his wife, took 
her hand and said : 

"My father earnestly advised me to dwell in 
peace with the Evangelical princes of Germany, and to 
promote the cause of the Lutheran confession to the 
best of my ability, that it become a power and a strong- 

12 



In the Chamber of the Queen. 



hold for all who are persecuted on account of their 
faith. He often said, 'Listen favorably to those who 
seek thy help, and do not let them go away uncom- 
forted.' Eleanor, you know me! I could bear the 
insults offered me by the emperor and his field-mar- 
shal, if the peace and welfare of my kingdom 
demanded it. But it were a sin, a crime, longer to 
ignore the fact that Austria persecutes my German 
fellow-believers, or to permit her, urged on by the 
arts and deceits of the Jesuits, at last to put her heavy 
foot also upon the free neck of the Lutheran Swedes. 
Time presses. In the enemy's camp they are much 
more active than we are. The emperor has taken a 
bold, outrageous step. By the Restitution-Edict he 
demands that all bishoprics and parishes, that have 
been confiscated since the Religious Peace of Passau 
in 1552 should be returned by the Evangelicals! To 
every Catholic prince has been granted the right to 
force his subjects to adopt his faith. Those who pro- 
test, yes, even those who delay are threatened with 
the ban of the Empire. Eleanor, that cuts deep into 
the flesh of Saxony, Brandenburg, Holstein and Pom- 
merania ; for there are the former episcopal duke- 
doms of Magdeburg — ha, this one, like Stralsund 
defended itself manfully against Wallenstein, and 
proved itself a perfect tower of strength — then 
Bremen, Halberstadt, Minden, Verden, Luneberg, 

13 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



Ratzeburg, Kammin, Brandeburg, Havelburg, Mer- 
seberg, Raumburg and Meissen. Can there be any- 
thing worse than such persecution? And is not every 
king and ruler to be despised, if, bound by the same 
religious faith to the persecuted, he carelessly looks 
on this miserable play while his arm is strong and 
free?" 

The queen gazed at her husband with luminous 
eyes. 

"Depend on it" continued the king after a 
moment, "it is no child's play in which I voluntarily 
engage. But my cause is a good and just one; the 
Lord will be with me, of that I am convinced. And 
the Lord is my judge, that I do not take this step to 
acquire vain glory, but to save Protestant freedom, 
even though I sacrifice my possessions and my blood, 
my liberty and my life ! You are a German, Eleanor, 
your faith is my faith! It is sorely tried. For the 
sake of this precious gift we must despise all earthly 
possessions. Thus I expect you also to be strong! 
Will you be, Eleanor?" 

"Yes," said the queen smiling amid tears, and 
offered him her hand. 

A fair, curly-haired head now peered through the 
It was their only child, princess Christine, at 



door. 

this time four years old. 

14 



In the Chamber of the Queen. 



"May I come papa, mama?" she asked, before 
entering. 

The king hastened toward her, took her up, and 
placed her in the arms of her mother. 



15 



n. 

A Retrospect. 



For almost twelve years war had raged in Ger- 
many. In Bohemia where it began, the first act of 
the great tragedy was quickly brought to a close by 
the defeat of the king, Frederick V of the Palatinate, 
who had been elected by the Bohemians. While he 
wandered through Germany, homeless and despised, 
the Spaniards overran the Palatinate and devastated 
it terribly. 

Tis true, the unfortunate king of Bohemia found 
defenders of his cause, but being too weak to with- 
stand the secret power of the Roman Catholic league, 
at whose head the arch-duke Max of Bavaria stood, 
one leader after another succumbed. 

So Austria was practically saved by the league. 
Out of gratitude, the emperor Ferdinand II leased 
to the Bavarian the now rulerless upper Palatinate, 
although in secret he was envious of the good fortune 
of this Wittelsbacher duke, and of his ever-widening 
influence in Germany. 

Tilly, the League general, on the 6th of August 
1623 dealt the brave partisan, duke Christian of Bruns- 
wick, a severe blow, at the city of Lohn in Miinster; 

IB 



A Retrospect. 



and by this means deprived the adventurous Count 
Mansfield of the opportunity of further enterprises. 

Then it was that king Christian IV of Denmark, 
who was at the same time duke of Holstein, was 
appointed commander in chief of the lower Saxony 
dukedoms and cities. In harmony with the duke of 
Brunswick and the count of Mansfield he offered new 
defiance to the emperor. Now lower Saxony became 
the seat of war, and while as Dullen says : "the indi- 
vidual rabid partisans passed through the German 
countries like destroying angels, with bloody swords 
in the glare of crackling flames, leaving ruins and the 
lamentations and curses of the people in their wake, 
the most powerful countries in Europe, Holland, Eng- 
land and France remained in the background, threat- 
ening the emperor." 

In the latter country Cardinal Richelieu was at 
this time the influential minister. It was his main 
ambition to destroy the power of Hapsburg in Ger- 
many and Spain, and to place the control of both these 
Kingdoms into the hands of France. 

Thus threatened on all sides, and unwilling again 
to put himself into the hands of the league and the 
arch-duke of Bavaria, the emperor determined to col- 
lect an army of his own. But for this both money and 
generals were wanting. 

A Bohemian nobleman, Albrecht von Waldstein 
17 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



or Wallenstein, also called the Friedlander on account 
of his large estate of Friedland in Bohemia, offered 
the emperor an army of 50,000 men. Naturally Fer- 
dinand did not refuse this offer. At once Wallen- 
stein 's recruiting drum sounded through Germany, and 
in a short time the proffered army, composed of hire- 
lings and servants of every clime and creed, gathered 
under the Friedlander's flag. 

Wallenstein was the only man to regain for the 
emperor and the Catholic church its former prestige 
and power. 

His very nature, his powerful figure, his princely 
bearing, his dark mysterious glance, commanded 
respect in the hearts of the troops, while the reports 
of his secret arts at once inspired dread and the cer- 
tainty of victory. 

He soon appeared on the field of battle, and at 
once attacked Count Mansfield on the bridge spanning 
the Elbe at Dessau. While he pursued him shortly 
after as far as Hungary, Tilly had the good fortune 
to defeat King Christian of Denmark at Lutter (6th 
of May 1626). One result of this victory was the 
subjection of lower Saxony to the imperial power. 

Wallenstein now quickly appeared on the Ger- 
man coast, stationed himself in Mecklenburg, expelled 
the Lutheran dukes from the land, and as security for 

18 



A Retrospect. 



his expenses in the war, he had the emperor bestow 
upon him both dukedoms. 

The Friediander now proudly and defiantly raised 
his head, he felt himself as high-born as the emperor, 
and directed and governed him as he pleased. He 
looked upon Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, as 
dangerous. To protect himself from him he desired 
to garrison Pomerania. For this purpose the strong 
town of Stralsund was of great importance. He 
demanded therefore of the citizens free passage for his 
army, and as they refused, threatened them with fire 
and the sword, only to meet with ridicule. 

He besieged the city on the 13th of May 1628. 
Had it fallen into his hands the defenders would cer- 
tainly have met a terrible fate. But the brave Stral- 
sunders had sworn to fight to the last man, and cour- 
ageously maintained the defense. They had a firm 
friend in the background. The king, Gustavus Adol- 
phus of Sweden, who at this time was stationed on the 
Rhede at Dantzig in war with Poland, assisted them 
secretly with powder, lead, and even with soldiers. 
Wallenstein, becoming more and more determined, 
swore to take Stralsund even though it were chained 
to heaven. 

He did not take it, however, but was obliged to 
retreat on the 3rd of August. 

With his eyes always directed on Sweden he now 

19 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



caused the emperor to conclude peace with the Danish 
king at Lubeck, and by sending a relief corps into 
Poland harassed Sweden in its hard struggle against 
this nation. 

The emperor at this time, March, 1629, had 
already issued the previously mentioned Restitution 
edict. Imperial and league soldiers, scornfully called 
"Salvationists" by the people, carried out its tyrannical 
commands with infamous barbarity; primarily, how- 
ever, only in South Germany, because the emperor 
needed the services of the dukes of Saxony and Bran- 
denburg in order to secure for his son, Ferdinand, the 
royal crown of Rome. 

In Augsburg this change of faith was enforced 
with swords on the 8th of August 1629. Here the 
Evangelical population l©st its religious liberty ; seven 
churches within the city and two outside; their gym- 
nasium, which was immediately occupied by the Jes- 
uits ; their schools, hospitals and nurseries were given 
over to the Catholics. The children of Evangelical 
parents were forced into the churches, and compelled 
to become Catholics. All praying and singing was 
forbidden in Evangelical homes. The Protestants 
were excluded from the council ; they were not allowed 
to marry without having heard mass. Without mass 
no apprentice could become master, and attendance at 
Catholic churches was demanded of all under penalty 

20 



A Retrospect. 



of exile. This injustice was perpetrated under the 
pretext of restoring to the bishop of Eichstadt, the 
rights he had in Augsburg in the year 1548, without 
regard to the religious treaty of 1555. 

The Jesuits soon stretched out their greedy hands 
toward certain cities of north Germany. Magdeburg 
stubbornly resisted and thereby, like Stralsund, ac- 
quired title to a civic crown. 

Wallenstein's residence was at Giistrow in Meck- 
lenburg. Here he conceived dark plans for the increase 
of his power, and the humiliation of Germany, while 
his unbridled soldiers scattered over lower Saxony 
and the coast of the Baltic sea, lived at the expense 
of the countries of friend and foe, and were guilty of 
all sorts of vandalism and crime. 

Louder and louder the lamentations and com- 
plaints of the oppressed rang in the emperor's ear. 
Above all other German dukes it was the archduke, 
Max of Bavaria, who had long been jealous of Wal- 
lenstein's unlimited power in the empire, who now 
used this opportunity to cause Wallenstein's downfall. 

In the Reichstag at Regensburg in the summer 
of 1630 the Friedlander's removal was decided on. 
The emperor Ferdinand protested solemnly against 
the consequences of this measure. He wanted to be 
innocent before God and man of the disaster that was 
certain to ensue. But the Bavarian pressed him hard, 

21 



Uustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



referred with threats to the power of the league ; and 
as Saxony and Brandenburg too insisted on the with- 
drawal of Wallenstein, the emperor finally signed the 
document. He was now again in the hands of the 
league and his son Ferdinand was not made king of 
Rome. 

At this time Wallenstein occupied Memmingen 
with a rather strong division of troops. The news 
of his removal reached him here. Apparently indif- 
ferent to his defeat he withdrew to his Bohemian 
estates. In his stead the aged Tilly was made com- 
mander of the army of imperialists and leaguers, 
which still numbered about 70,000 men, after a part 
of it had been discharged, and another had gone over 
to the Swedes, who after landing in Germany took 
town after town in Pomerania, Mecklenburg and 
Brandenburg. 

Although the emperor Ferdinand at the appear- 
ance of Gustavus Adolphus in Germany said: "There 
we've got one little enemy more," and the Jesuits were 
of the opinion that "this snow-king would soon melt 
in the sun of his imperial majesty," yet the further 
execution of the Restitution-edict was temporarily 
arrested. 

We have meanwhile anticipated the course of our 
narrative, and will in the next chapter give an account 
of events omitted. 



22 



in. 

In the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 



A few weeks after the conversation between the 
king and queen, which we reproduced in the first chap- 
ter, Gustavus Adolphus appointed a time for the diet. 

The passionate desire to bring help and salvation 
to the oppressed Evangelicals in Germany grew 
stronger and more consuming; it absorbed his whole 
soul. 

The king had previously taken his chancellor and 
friend Axel Oxenstjerna into his cabinet. The two had 
often had in mind an expedition to Germany, and dis- 
cussed it, but never as yet fully and satisfactorily. 

"I expect candor from you, Axel/' said the king. 

"Which I have never denied you," he answered. 

"You know the question before us to-day. Speak." 

"In consideration of our weak force and the 
strength of our enemy, I disapprove of an attack." 

"Ha !" cried he king, starting from his chair, 
"Pomerania and the sea-coast are like bastions for 
Sweden ! That is our security and our superiority 
over the emperor." 

"But how shall such a mighty war be carried on ? 
It will be impossible for Sweden to bear the enormous 

23 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



expense alone. Of course I know that one can buy 
soldiers, but I know also how unreliable they are, and 
how prone to mutiny at the slightest provocation. 
The imperialists extort from all German states im- 
mense sums for the maintenance of their army ; the 
soldiers live at the expense of the countries which they 
conquer. But we could never do that, since we shall 
leave Sweden only in order to liberate, and not to 
subjugate Germany. In my opinion it were more 
advisable to wait — and the time is not far distant — 
until the emperor attacks us." 

"Axel, Axel," exclaimed the king, "you forget 
that the advantage is for the most part on the side of 
the aggressor, especially if one strides rapidly over 
the neck of the enemy, and does not allow him to catch 
his breath. 'Tis true the power of the emperor is 
superior to ours, but — that does not worry me. The 
number of the combatants does not decide the issue 
of a battle, but the weight of the cause for which one 
fights. And can there be a higher, holier one than 
freedom of spirit and conscience? Many of the coun- 
tries over there are drained to the last drop of blood, 
but those least which I need most for my cause: the 
larger cities and the Free Cities. All Germany bristles 
with hatred and enmity against the Jesuits, the people 
will sacrifice their last drop of blood and make com- 

24 



In the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 

mon cause with me, their deliverer, against a common 
enemy/' 

"Your majesty, I insist," said Axelstjerna openly 
and fearlessly, "that this expedition to Germany is the 
result rather of an inspired idea than of mature delib- 
eration." 

The king made no direct answer. 

"No time is more propitious than the present," 
he then said. "We have concluded peace with Den- 
mark, and a six years truce with Poland." 

"But my lord and king," said Oxenstjerna, "what 
if the king of Denmark, who according to his own 
words has received more in the Lubecker treaty than 
he had ever expected, should in the absence of your 
majesty from Sweden, show himself grateful to the 
emperor? Christian IV is a restless, quarrelsome 
neighbor, and easily forgets the smaller interest in 
view of the larger." 

"Not in this case, Axel," said the king firmly. 
"Our interests are mutual — to force the emperor 
from the Baltic and North sea." 

"How about Poland?" asked Oxenstjerna doubt- 
fully. "Does your majesty count so firmly on the 
truce with this country?" 

"Poland," repeated the king, and thought for a 
moment. "Of course Poland could make use of our 
slightest misfortune and again cast a challenge at our 

25 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



feet. And yet, the famine prevailing in Prussia will 
stay every enemy until harvest, and by that time the 
Lord in heaven will have vouchsafed us victory. The 
slightest advantage to our army in Germany is a defeat 
for all our enemies. Therefore let me hear nothing 
more of a defensive war. The sea is large and we 
would have an extensive coast-line to defend. If the 
enemy's fleet escaped us, or if we were defeated, it 
would be much more difficult to defend Sweden than 
to attack the enemy in his own country. Come, Axel, 
we will hear what our council thinks of the matter! 
But this let me tell you, there is no other peace for me 
except in the grave." 

Thus they both entered the assembly hall of the 
council. Venerable, patriotic men : the brothers Mag- 
nus and Abraham Brahe, Carl Carlson, Nickolas Horn, 
John Skytte, Gabriel Gustersee, Peter Baner, John 
Sparr, Nicholas Flemming, Matthew Soop and others 
were here assembled. 

The king spoke: "You will perhaps remember 
that I have often told you that the terrible war in Ger- 
many would not come to a close without Sweden being 
involved. You know the injury the German emperor 
has done us. England and France have offered me an 
alliance, and to-day the French ambassador will reach 
Stockholm. But before I take any steps, I consider 
it important to consult your opinion, in order that the 

26 



in the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 



people may not complain against me if the results are 
not commensurate with their expectations. Two ways 
are open to us : either we quietly wait until we are 
attacked by the emperor, or we boldly attack him in 
Germany. * Concerning this matter I should like your 
opinion." 

The aged John Skytte, the former tutor of the 
king, spoke: "In this evidently long-drawn-out war 
your majesty stakes his monarchy; for the emperor 
and his Jesuits are tenacious." 

The king answered : "All monarchies have passed 
from one generation to another. A monarchy does 
not consist of individuals but in laws." 

Nicholas Horn said: "Your majesty's subjects 
would think it very singular that we have concluded 
peace with Denmark and Poland not to enjoy it but 
to be plunged into a new and much more extravagant 
war. Much dissatisfaction and discontent would pre- 
vail, if the outcome were unsuccessful." 

"So weigh the matter carefully," the king urged, 
"that your children and children's children may not 
be able to reproach you." 

Abraham Brahe said: "Your majesty must not 
depend altogether on the assistance of the Protestant 
princes. Demand of them on your arrival that they 
should show their colors and render you aid, and you 

27 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



will find that the old innate respect for the emperor 
will surely deter them." 

The somewhat hot-headed Claudius Horn 
thought: "If we conquer, however, without having 
had the aid of the princes of the Holy Roman Empire, 
so much the better for us; their countries will be a 
fine booty." 

"O ! O ! Claudius Horn," rejoined the king smil^ 
ing," that you should think of the rich booty. If you 
had your way, you would certainly make quick work 
of these German armies. But that is not our plan, God 
forbid! For we do not advance merely to conquer 
and to oppress, but to bring help, and keep our friends 
true to the word of God." 

"I know these gentlemen equally well," Matthew 
Soop now added. "They would like to have their fur 
washed, but dislike to see it wet. These people are 
very effeminate, raised in luxury; they have no sol- 
dierly mind, neither have they soldiers in their council ; 
on the other hand they have more officers, scribes and 
jurists, who 'tis true, practice the Roman law, but who 
will not break the necks of the Roman flatterers and 
oppressors." 

This twaddle was unbearable to the king; with 
difficulty he mastered his rising anger. Axel Oxen- 
stjerna spoke for him : 

"We have assembled here for an altogether dif- 
28 



In the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 

ferent purpose, than to occupy ourselves with such 
trifling. Earnestness and dignity should characterize 
our deliberations to-day more than ever before. The 
future and greatness of our fatherland are at stake." 

"One war is apt to be succeeded by another," now 
said Peter Baner. "Your majesty cannot gain ground 
in Germany without making sure of the Elbe, Oder 
and Weser. This might complicate matters and give 
the Dutch, the Danes and even the English cause for 
grievance. The imperial field-marshals will try with 
all their power to render our passage over these rivers 
difficult. Where shall we raise the necessary soldiers ? 
Taking for granted we found them, the revenues of 
our country would decrease in proportion. Foreign 
powers, particularly England and France, encourage 
this war, but what security has your majesty that they 
will not desert you if your cause does not seem to 
prosper?" 

John Sparr, a venerable man with snow-white 
hair, who already in the time of king Carl IX had fos- 
tered the welfare of Sweden by word and deed, now 
rose from his chair and said : "I will not speak for or 
against war, our eyes are short-sighted, our councils 
null and void ; Alpha and Omega are in God's hands. 
There is one thing, however, my lord and master that 
troubles me. You have spent nearly eighteen years 
in war, have exposed yourself to imminent danger. 

29 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



You are a husband, father and sovereign! Is it any- 
thing but reasonable that you preserve yourself for 
your wife, your family and your subjects? Do not 
voluntarily challenge the enemy; do not tempt God, 
but trust Him. Truly you have higher duties at home ; 
but if you are forced to war, then sacrifice every- 
thing!" 

An approving look from the king rewarded the 
honest man. His gigantic figure towered boldly, 
majestically; from his eyes a noble lire shone. 

"It is evident," said he, raising his voice, "that 
the emperor Ferdinand harbors an irreconcilable 
hatred aganst the Lutheran Swedes. Think you he 
will spare us after he has overthrown the Evangelicals 
in Germany ? Austria is striving for a universal mon- 
archy ; only France, the Netherlands and Sweden can 
bar the way. The Restitution-edict is a powerful 
weapon against us. If the emperor and his Jesuits 
succeed in enforcing this edict, the Evangelical faith 
in Germany is lost, perhaps forever. But God forbid. 
The emperor has at times secretly, at times before the 
whole world, intrigued against us, he will surely 
advance as soon as he is secure in Germany. The 
time is near, it is best not to wait, but energetically to 
direct our bayonets against him ; especially since we 
have always found this course leading us to success. 
If we do not enter Germany, the enemy will soon again 

30 



In the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 

cast his eyes on Stralsund, and finally take it; and 
Stralsund is the key to the Baltic sea. And suppose 
Ferdinand should unite with us, Holstein would never 
remain a peaceful witness. She would send forth a 
mighty fleet and instead of fighting against the em- 
peror we would have to fight the Amsterdam pepper- 
sacks, who are much more formidable at sea than the 
emperor is on land. The cry for help from the exiled 
princes of Mecklenburg, our cousins and friends; the 
wail of distress of Evangelical Germany comes over 
to us, — let us not close our ears in fear and trembling, 
but let us act like men and good Lutherans ! And if 
our undertaking should fail so utterly, that our whole 
army perished, and not a single man returned to Swe- 
den, the situation would then be no worse than it is at 
present : we would still have our ships to defend the 
sea, and our militia to protect the land." 

The king had scarcely ceased when a servant 
announced the French embassador, Marquis Charnace, 
who had just arrived. The king ordered him to be 
ushered in. 

With French volubility he pictured to the king 
in rosiest hues the campaign in Germany. 

"All hearts will greet your majesty, and look 
upon you as a deliverer. The German people are sick 
and tired of the unbearable government of the em- 
peror; they long for the Swedish liberator. Victory 

31 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



upon victory will follow your majesty's flag; the 
humiliation of the emperor is assured." 

"To be candid, Marquis," said the king, smiling, 
"I do not imagine this undertakng so easy. Tilly and 
Wallenstein are tried warriors, and the emperor still 
has a large following. The people are swayed by tra- 
ditions and sympathies for Austria, whose subjection 
might cause an enemy much trouble." 

"My master the Christian king of France," said 
the Frenchman, "goes so far as to open up to your 
majesty the prospect of the Byzantine-Turkish empire 
of the orient, so you," — 

"Provided I renounce my victory and conquest in 
Germany," interrupted the king, "concede to another 
the place in the council of nations, which I secured by 
the greatest sacrifices, or, after I became too trouble- 
some to the mediator behind the scenes." 

The Marquis in his zeal took no notice of the 
objections of the king and continued: "You alone, 
worthy majesty, are the right man for these places; 
supported by the rich and powerful crown of France, 
which will remain favorably disposed to you under all 
circumstances, radiant with the glory which your vir- 
tues have gained for you, loved and adored by all the 
world, your majesty is equal to every undertaking." 

The king finally declined these praises, and 
thanked the crown of France with quiet dignity for 

32 



Iii the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 

the magnanimous offer to help him to great things. 
In conclusion he added : "To return to the attitude of 
Germany, the Marquis is hardly correctly informed. 
The archduke of Saxony for instance, boldly told one 
of my messengers, that if I came over to Germany 
he was resolved to unite his troops with those of the 
emperor in order to expel me, the stranger. I know 
also that Tilly, the old corporal, as he is called, has 
sworn that he only desired to live longer in order that 
he might be able to fight me to the death, and in so 
doing, to conquer or to die. Furthermore Wallenstein 
has threatened to drive me back with whips across the 
Baltic sea." 

Charnace made ingenious replies. Finally in the 
name of his monarch, Louis XIII, who, like his great 
predecessor, Henry IV, bent all efforts to crush the 
ascendency of Hapsburg, he offered the king three 
tons of gold for the war with Germany. 

An assenting murmur passed through the assem- 
bly. Enticing, however, as this offer was, and gladly 
as the king, under other circumstances, would have 
availed himself of it, he rejected it; for he would not 
combine a just cause with an unjust one; he would 
not in conjunction with a Catholic power, which had 
already often horribly persecuted her own dissenting 
subjects, hasten to the aid of the Evangelicals in Ger- 
many. He would not tie his hands and become the 

33 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



tool of France to be cast aside at will. After he once 
appeared as victor in Germany he knew this alliance 
would be sought anew, but then he and not they would 
dictate the terms of peace. 

The French ambassador was dismissed, the mem- 
bers of the council agreed with the king, and thus 
the bold Gustavus Adolphus, trusting to God and his 
sword, plunged into war without foreign assistance. 

The diet, which Gustavus convened shortly after 
this council, concurred in his opinion ; and though 
there were many among the people who were weak 
and fearful, who looked upon war with Germany as 
the ruin of Sweden, the daily-increasing enthusiasm 
of the country carried him away also. This war 
against the wanton encroachments of the Catholic 
Hapsburger was soon looked upon as a crusade. 
Preparations were rapidly begun. The army was 
strengthened and increased ; transports were collected, 
the fleet was put in good condition, provisions and 
ammunition attended to, and as much money as pos- 
sible raised within and without the country. 

On the 20th of May 1630 the king entered the 
council chamber with the four year old princess, Chris- 
tine, on his arm. He bade them and his native coun- 
try, which he was never to see again, farewell. Like 
a man and christian who goes forward to death, he 
had ordered his house and appointed his daughter as 

34 



In the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 

successor, in case of his death. The assembly swore 
allegiance to him. With touching words he com- 
mended her and his wife to the council. A deep emo- 
tion stirred the members and even the king had tears 
in his eyes. 

He then pictured in impressive manner how he 
had been forced into this war by the emperor Ferdi- 
nand II. 

I call on God Almighty to be my witness, that I 
do not fight for mere gratification. The emperor 
oppresses and persecutes our German brothers of the 
faith. They stretch out their hands to us imploring 
help. They shall not call in vain. I realize the dan- 
gers which threaten me. The oftener I expose myself 
to them, the less hope there is that I will escape. 'Tis 
true, divine Providence has until now preserved me 
in a wonderful manner, but I must eventually die in 
the defense of my country." 

Upon this he addressed himself to the counsel- 
lors, and exhorted them to live worthy of their calling, 
and to the glory of God; he encouraged the nobility 
to bravery and manliness ; the servants of the Church 
to harmony. They should ever by an incorruptible 
and pious conduct be an example to their congrega- 
tions, preach the gospel, and guard against passion 
and vanity. He wished for the peasantry and citizens 

35 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



the blessing of God upon the diligence of their hands, 
for their fields, gardens, houses and barns." 

"So for all my subjects" said he with folded 
hands, "I raise my most heartfelt prayers to God. I 
say a hearty farewell in the hope that we shall see each 
other again here or in the heavenly and eternal home." 

He was silent a moment, allowed his grief and 
that of his faithful followers to subside; then prayed 
aloud and with great reverence from the 90th Psalm : 

"Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent 
thee concerning Thy servants. O satisfy us early with 
Thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our 
days. Let thy work appear unto Thy servants, and 
Thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of 
the Lord our God be upon us : and establish Thou the 
work of our hands upon us ; yea, the work of our 
hands establish Thou it." 

It was a great hour, never to be forgotten. 



36 



IV. 

Gustavus Adolphus' Atmy t Departure From Sweden 
and Arrival in Germany. 



The next morning the Swedish army had assem- 
bled on a meadow at Elfsnabben, where the fleet lay 
at anchor, ready for embarkation. Arms of various 
kinds were put on board, among them a number of 
light guns, which in the course of the war, rendered 
the Swedes excellent service. 

The army which Gustavus Adolphus led to Ger- 
many consisted of 15,000 men: 92 companies of 
infantry and 16 of cavalry. Nevertheless it was a 
mere handful compared to the 130-140,000 men, which 
at the beginning of summer, before Wallenstein's dis- 
missal, rallied around his flag and Tilly's. 

And this mighty army relied on the revenues of 
a great kingdom, whose strength had often been taxed 
but not exhausted, while Sweden had in the long wars 
with its neighbors made great sacrifices. 

An historian of the time writes of Germany : 

"Germany lies between the Oder and the Maas, 
between the Vistula and the Aa, between the Baltic 
and the Adriatic seas, between the North Sea and the 
Alps. This glorious empire is of about equal' length 

37 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



and breadth and contains much grain, wine and fish. 
It is rich in mines of gold and silver and many vari- 
eties of metals, and excels all other countries in 
Europe. Nature has given the soil wells of salt water 
so that there is no want of salt. Germany also has 
merchandise, and beautiful rivers the more easily to 
transport it. The inhabitants cultivate the arts and 
intellectual pursuits. The Free Cities enjoy rich reve- 
nues, the provisions are inexhaustible. Germany is 
also powerful at sea: Emden, Bremen, Hamburg, 
Liibeck, Rostock and other cities lying on the coast 
have many ships. In conclusion, the empire is so 
powerful it need fear no enemy if it will only stand 
united. 

But it was then as often afterward disunited, and 
that was Gustavus Adolphus' principal weapon against 
the mighty head of the empire, Austria. 

It might here be in place to say something about 
the Swedish war department. 

The regiments of infantry as well as cavalry were 
inferior to those of the imperialists. A squadron con- 
sisted of two divisions, in each of which were 33 cav- 
alry-men, in all then 66 men. The company of 
infantry numbered 144 men, including eighteen ser- 
geants and six corporals, and the following officers : 
one captain, two lieutenants and one ensign. The lat- 

38 



Gustavus Adolphus' Army, Departure, Etc. 



ter carried the flag in battle. In order to engender in 
the common soldier more love for the sacred emblem, 
the ensign was never punished ; he even had the right 
to intercede for culprits. Eight companies constituted 
a regiment, two regiments a brigade. It was the cus- 
tom, in order to reduce the size of the regiments, to 
call for volunteers for dangerous undertakings. This 
custom prevented the destruction of whole regiments. 
In the battle formation of his army, it was Gustavus 
Adolphus' principle to make each individual soldier 
as effective as possible. Pikemen and musketeers were 
therefore drawn up only six deep. The former were 
massed closely in battle-array, man to man; in the 
case of the musketeers, on the contrary, there was 
between each squad, which consisted of four or five 
soldiers, a space of from 3 to 4 feet, through which 
the first file would retire, half to the right, half to the 
left; to allow them to reload and to make room for 
the firing of the next line. 

The king's second very important principle was, 
that one weapon should support and aid another. For 
this purpose he ordered small divisions of musketeers 
alongside of the battalions of pikemen, and scattered 
them also among the cavalry, leaving empty spaces 
among the squadrons for the reception of 150 to 200 
musketeers. Finally the first line of battle was sup- 
ported by a second, which could come to the assist- 

39 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



ance, in case any portion of the former was hard 
pressed and which could also defend the flanks. 

An English historian said on this subject: "The 
battle-array of the Swedish king is like a well-built 
fort, able to meet the enemy from whatever side the 
attack comes. This excellent arrangemnt could only 
be overthrown by a sudden charge where the troops 
had not time to get in line." In like manner Gustavus 
Adolphus improved the cavalry. The attack was made 
by a squadron with 15 or 16 men in front, and four 
men deep. Man stood to man, line on line. Coming 
within range the riders galloped, and not until the 
white of the enemy's eye was visible would the first 
and second divisions discharge their pistols, which 
were then quickly thrown into the halter, and daggers 
produced. This latter was in the king's opinion the 
chief weapon : the pistol should only serve to make 
a break and facilitate the invasion. If such an attack 
miscarried, or, if the soldiers were pursued, then the 
musketeers were to advance, arrest the enemy, and 
crush them with their rifles and artillery which until 
then were concealed by the front. 

In regard, finally, to the Swedish artillery, — with 
the German armies this had thus far been a most 
clumsy and unwieldy weapon, — Gustavus Adolphus 
reduced the size of the guns. He re-cast each piece, 
and his small cannons weighed scarcely a hundred 

40 



Gustavus Adolphus' Army, Departure, Etc. 

pounds ; but as they became too easily heated, he kept 
them only until the year 1631. In their places he 
introduced the cannon invented by the Englishman, 
Hamilton, which was only four feet long and did not 
weigh more than 600 pounds. It discharged a ball 
weighing four pounds, with a load of ij lbs. powder, 
was readily transported and formed the beginning of 
the flying artillery. Musketeers were drilled in gun- 
ning so that there was never a dearth of gunners. 
Besides he had, like the imperialists 24 to 28 pounders, 
only that these were loaded with cartridges. In the 
number of arms the Swedes excelled. The local 
mines furnished material in abundance. So the 
Swedes shot from 100 pieces in Breitenfeld, on the 
Oder from 200, and in the camp at Nuremberg 330 
pieces held the enemy in check. 

The outward appearance of the Swedes con- 
trasted strongly with that of their opponents. They 
wore loose coats, lined with sheep-skin through the 
winter; over these collars of buffalo or elephant's 
skin. The officers had no decorations of orders, the 
various regiments were recognized by their colors. 
The cavalry wore helmets and cuirasses. 

The articles of war, which were conceived and 
written by Gustavus Adolphus himself, and read for 
the first time to the assembled armies in Elfsnabben 
by Axel Oxenstjerna must not remain unmentioned 

41 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



here, for they soon became the model for all European 
armies. 

They began with these words : Idolators, sorcer- 
ers and deserters shall be tried according to divine and 
Swedish laws. The king, as God's plenipotentiary on 
earth, is the highest judge in war and in peace. This 
God-given power he exercises through the higher and 
lower courts. Crimes which affect life, rank or honor 
shall be tried under the open sky in the presence of 
the assembled army. Complaints concerning prop- 
erty will be tried in the tent. The punishments are 
decapitation, hanging of every tenth man by lot if 
a squadron of cavalry or infantry has fled during an 
engagement while they could still have used their 
swords. The remaining soldiers serve in this case 
without a flag, lie outside of the camp and are obliged 
to clean it until they have made good their shortcom- 
ings by bravery. Lesser punishments are : to ride 
wooden horses, imprisonment in irons, on bread and 
water, running the gauntlet, fines, dismissal of officers, 
expulsion in disgrace from camp, etc. The flogging 
of soldiers by superiors is forbidden. Useless and 
disreputable persons are not tolerated in camp. The 
chaplain conducts religious services every Sunday and 
delivers short sermons during the week if opportunity 
offers. Prayers morning and evening, etc. 

The king maintained the friendliest relations with 

42 



Gustavus Adolphus Army, Departure, Etc. 

all his soldiers, and permitted them to call him com- 
rade and brother. He often invited the officers to his 
table. Bravery and excellence found his highest rec- 
ognition ; he did not ask for birth or station, the man 
alone counted. . . 

The whole court and a multitude of people had 
assembled on the meadow at Elfsnabben. On a plainly 
harnessed horse the king rode up and down the files 
of his soldiers ; he had a friendly word for many a 
bearded man who had engaged in former marches 
with him. He also cheered the army officers and the 
sea-men with word and deed. From time to time he 
would ride to the state coach in which the queen sat 
with the young princess, Christine. He comforted 
the weeping wife with an assurance of a successful 
outcome of the undertaking and of a joyful return. 

As the king was about to leave his wife before the 
embarkation of the army, his eyes fell on a man close 
by in peasant's dress. The king being somewhat near- 
sighted eyed him sharply, as the man with powerful 
arms forced his way out of the multitude. 

"Well, is it you, Jacob Ericson?" cried the king 
astonished. 

"It is I, your majesty," he answered. 

"And you came the long distance from Igelstadt 
to see me once again?" 

"God willing, it shall occur often, day after day, 

43 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



my worthy lord and king ; for my most heartfelt wish 
is that you should take me with you to Germany." 

"Ericson," said the king, "you have grown older, 
and have a wife and children." 

"I had them, but the Lord in heaven called them 
unto himself a short time ago, and I thought now I 
can again devote my arm and heart to my most gra- 
cious king." 

"Your arm," said the king, hesitatingly, "no, for 
you have grown eighteen years older since then; but 
your heart, — yes, that I need ; your love and your 
fidelity !" 

The queen approached the group. 

"Do you recognize this man?" the king asked. 

"Whom, your saviour the brave Jacob Ericson?" 

"He begs to accompany me to Germany." 

"You certainly will not deny this honest man his 
wish ?" 

"No, never !" exclaimed the king. "You shall go 
Ericson. You have already done me a service on the 
treacherous Widjo sea, who knows whether you will 
not again find opportunity, even if it were the last 
service of closing the eyes of your dying king?" 

"God in mercy forbid !" said the queen. 

"You shall not accompany me as a soldier," said 
the king quickly, "but as a body-guard. Will you?" 

"I will, my lord and king," exclaimed the loyal 

44 



Gustavus Adolphus' Army, Departure, Etc. 

Ericson, delighted. "I can ride as well as any one, 
and to serve you, and if necessary protect you, will be 
my most sacred duty." 

"Make haste, then, Ericson," said the king, "they 
will soon weigh anchor!" 

"I am ready, your royal majesty" he answered. 
Waving his hat he shouted with resounding voice: 
"Long live Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden !" and 
the entire multitude joined enthusiastically. 

The king expressed his thanks, called a farewell 
to all, and again embraced his wife and child. 

As lie was about to go aboard, a sloop landed 
with three deputies from the duke Bogislaw. 

"What brings you?" asked the king. 

"The fervent request of our master," one spoke 
up "that your majesty do not land on the coast of 
Pomerania. Our country, which has already suffered 
so much, would then again become the seat of war." 

"Away with these petty considerations" roared 
the king, "and remember that the cause of the gospel 
which your people as well as I confess is here at stake. 
Even if Wallenstein has robbed you of much, and in 
your country acted cruelly, there will still be found 
for my tired soldiers a protecting roof and a litter 
of straw. But tell your master that I come to Germany 
not as a conqueror or enemy but as saviour and friend. 
It remains for him to choose." 

45 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



With these words the embassy was dismissed. 

The same afternoon the army embarked. Salutes 
thundered from aboard and from the harbor. The 
entire fleet consisted of 28 large and small vessels, 
several merchantmen, besides various little flat-bot- 
tomed boats useful for landing and for the navigation 
of streams, each with three fieldpieces on board. 

The fleet had scarcely reached mid-sea, when a 
continuous south-west wind delayed the voyage, and 
the progress was so slow and difficult that fresh pro- 
visions had to be obtained from the nearest sea-coast 
cities. 

Finally on the 24th of June the bold deliverer 
from Sweden arrived ; exactly on the day on which 
100 years before the Evangelical dukes had handed 
the German emperor, Carl V, the Augsburger confes- 
sion of faith. He came to restore its honor and at 
the point of the sword if necessary, to save freedom 
of faith and of conscience for Germany, which since 
that time had groaned under heavy oppression. On 
the following day during a severe thunderstorm the 
troops disembarked on the island Usedom. 

The king was first to land. He sank upon his 
knees and prayed aloud, folding his hands reverently 
above his head. 

"O God, God, who rulest heaven and earth, the 
wind and the waves, how shall I thank Thee that Thou 

46 



Gustavus Adolphus' Army, Departure, Etc. 

hast so mercifully protected me during this dangerous 
voyage. O, I thank Thee from my innermost heart, 
and pray Thee to bestow Thy grace and Thy blessing 
upon this enterprise, which I undertake not for my 
aggrandisement, but alone for Thy glory, for the 
defense of Thy oppressed Church, and the succor of 
all believers. Thou, Lord, who provest hearts and 
souls, knowest the uprightness of my purpose. Bless 
me, bless me and mine now and forever. Amen." 

The sight of the king in prayer greatly affected 
the generals and officers surrounding him. Many wept 
with emotion. When the king observed this, he said: 
"Weep not, my friends, but pray. The more prayers 
the more victories. The most pious soldier is always 
the bravest ; he knows his cause rests with God and 
that He will prosper it." 

Upon this he took a spade and threw up some 
earth for a bulwark. He wanted to set his soldiers a 
good example. They worked faithfully; in another 
day the entire army was not only disembarked but 
entrenched. The enemy was not in sight ; it had 
retreated at the approach of the Swedes, but not before 
burning clown villages and farm-buildings. 

The king's daily command was : "No soldier 
shall, under pain of death, raze or burn a house, insult 
a citizen or peasant or rob him of his goods." 



47 



V. 

Progress in Germany. 



From Usedom to Stettin, the capital of Pom- 
erania, the way lay open to the king. It was imper- 
ative to seize this place before the imperialists. A few 
days later the king appeared before the city. The Pom- 
eranian Colonel von Damitz sent a drummer into the 
Swedish camp, to say to the king that if he approached 
any nearer his army would be fired upon. 

The king answered, smiling: "I also carry can- 
non, and who knows which shoot the better. More- 
over I am not accustomed," he added, with dignity 
"to treat of such weighty matters with a drummer. 
Tell your colonel to come in person to my camp." 

Not long after he appeared. He begged, as had 
the Pomeranian embassadors at Elfsnabben, for neu- 
trality. 

"It will be impossible to grant it" was the king's 
answer. "I demand a conference with the duke of 
Pomerania himself." 

Before night set in, the latter was on his way to 
the Swedish camp with a numerous retinue. 

The frightful picture of the imperial anger filled 
this little German duke's soul. And yet how could he 

48 



Progress in Germany. 



be made to suffer any more than he now suffered? 
For months 30,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry had 
been encamped in Pomerania and had exhausted it 
shamefully. 

Gustavus Adolphus received the frightened old 
duke graciously. 

"My enterprises," said he, "are not against you, 
cousin, but against our common enemy. I did not 
leave Sweden to appropriate to myself another's 
property, but to make secure the Evangelical religion, 
the liberty of the German empire and peace of con- 
science. Acknowledge the hand of God, which within 
a few days put me in possession of the largest and 
most important part of Pomerania. Do not longer 
delay to make my cause yours." 

Duke Bogislaw, a man who loved peace and quiet, 
wriggled and writhed with smooth words, and would 
come to no conclusion. The king became impatient 
and vehement. "Who is not for me is against me," 
he cried. "Say yes or no !" 

"Well then yes, in God's name," came the answer. 

An hour later the Swedish army entered Stettin. 
The soldiers were not quartered in houses, but in tents 
in the streets. The king himself slept on board one 
of the boats in the Oder, "for," said he, "a mantle 
lined with fur for the generals and straw for the sol- 

49 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



diers are excellent beds for the subjects of a king, 
who himself would rather sleep in a hammock." 

Stettin was now quickly fortified against every 
attack on land or sea. The king well understood how 
to arouse the enthusiasm of the workers at the forti- 
cations. Those who would, in one day, collect and 
deliver a certain number of wagons full of earth, 
would receive a can of Dantziger beer. Within four 
days Stettin was encircled with a girdle of breast- 
works, which long served as a model. The Swedish 
army now daily grew stronger. Lieutenant Leslie 
joined it with two regiments from Stralsund, military 
forces from Prussia arrived, also 700 newly acquired 
Scottish troops, besides the experienced soldiers which 
once served under Mansfield, the Bruswicker and the 
Danish king; later many of Wallenstein's army 
thronged in, although not to the advantage of the 
morality and discipline of those under Gustavus Adol- 
phus' flag. 

Rapid progress was made. Damm and Stargard 
were taken, (the latter from the Pomeranians) and an 
attack on Garz attempted. The king led this one him- 
self ; he was in danger of being brutally murdered by 
an assassin, a former imperial lieutenant by name of 
Ouintin, who had won the king's confidence. An 
Italian named Baptiste was in league with Quintin. 
Before his execution he confessed : "It has long been 



Progress in Germany. 



my purpose to kill the king, but my heart always failed 
me, and when my hand grasped my pistol it suddenly 
became paralyzed so that I could never carry out 
such an intention. — " Quintin received his deserts 
at Leipzig. Here he was found torn to pieces by a 
ball from a Swedish cannon. 

Garz remained temporarily in the possession of 
the imperialists; the king, however, prepared an 
expedition against Mecklenburg. By way of Damm- 
garten and Ribnitz he pressed over the border. It was 
a daring move, as the imperialists under field marshal 
Conti beleaguered Greifswald and Wolgast. It is 
true, this place was soon taken by general Kniphausen, 
but in the little town of Pasewalk a Swedish detach- 
ment suffered a terrible defeat. Scarcely had they 
triumphantly entered here when they were attacked 
by 3,000 soldiers, who rapidly followed them under 
Colonel Gotz. A horrible street fight ensued : all the 
Swedes, nearly 200 men, were cut down with swords, 
and such atrocities committed upon the Lutheran 
inhabitants as would beggar description, and belong 
to the most outrageous recorded during the entire 
thirty years war. 

Although Gustavus Adolphus constantly achieved 
victories against Mecklenburg, he hastened with the 
larger part of his army back to Stettin, which the 
imperialists threatened. From here he conducted the 

51 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



so-called small war. Besides Greifswald and Kol- 
berg, — whose hour had also about struck — there 
was at the end of the year 1630 not a single Pome- 
ranian city in the hands of the imperialists; the 
Swedes even held part of the Neumarkt in siege. 

Meanwhile the Margrave Christian William, 
who had been expelled by the Danish king from his 
Lutheran archbishopric at Magdeburg, and had been 
put under the ban by the emperor, had returned from 
Brandenburg to Magdeburg. This city soon became 
the refuge of dispersed troops ; and since the citizens 
had successfully defended Magdeburg against Wal- 
lenstein's whole army, they were in a war-like mood 
and unanimously decided to defend their liberty and 
privileges against every other enemy. Gustavus Adol- 
phus had sent Colonel Dietrich von Falkenburg, a 
man prudent and experienced in war, to this city. 

Tilly on his way to lower Saxony came upon defi- 
ant Magdeburg. He began to besiege it in the fall 
of 1630. He meant that it should serve him as a firm 
bulwark against the Swedes. Imploring calls soon 
came to the king to assist this oppressed fortress with 
his entire army. Gustavus Adolphus could only have 
done this had he sacrificed his position in Pomerania 
and on the Oder. On account of the uncertainty and 
timidity of the Evangelical princes he could not afford 
to do this. 



52 



Progress in Germany. 



Leaving Pappenheim in front of Magdeburg, 
Tilly undertook a march to Pomerania. The victories 
of the Swedes gave him no peace. Fortune favored 
him ; he soon recaptured Brandenburg. Cruelties such 
as had been exercised in Pasewalk, and were about to 
be inflicted on the besieged Magdeburg, were perpe- 
trated here also by the soldiers of the emperor Ferdi- 
nand, the patron and protector of the entire German 
nation. In spite of their petitions the garrison 
received no quarter. Of 2,000 men all but about 60, 
who had concealed themselves in the vilest corners of 
the houses, were massacred. Satiated with revenge, 
Tilly hastened back to Magdeburg. The Swedes now 
took Frankfurt on the Oder by storm. The king him- 
self led the scaling party, but could not prevent his 
soldiers from exercising the right of retaliation for 
New-Brandenburg. "New-Brandenburg quarter !" 
cried the victor to the vanquished. Swords and lances 
played fearful havoc in the streets, houses and courts. 
Of 7,000 Imperialists about 1,800 escaped. Lieuten- 
ant Auer, a German who hoisted the first Swedish 
flag on the stormed wall, received from the king 1,000 
dollars and was made captain in the royal guards. 

Let us hear how one of the colonels, the Scotsman 
Monro speaks of Gustavus. "Every one serves such 
a chief joyfully. It is his custom to be first and last 
in danger. He has the love of his officers ; under his 

53 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



guidance they consider themselves invincible. He 
never hesitates to have carried out what he has once 
commanded. He does not change his orders, makes 
no apologies for such measures as the necessities of 
war demand." 

We must add here that Gustavus Adolphus in 
1 63 1 at Barnevalde in Neumarkt, where his head- 
quarters were, concluded the long proffered and 
almost compulsory alliance with the crown of France 
for a period of six years. The king was to receive for 
the past year 12,000 dollars, thereafter, however, annu- 
ally 400,000, in consideration of which he pledged 
himself to furnish 30,000 infantry and 16,000 cavalry; 
not to interfere with the Catholic religion in the con- 
quered countries and cities, and to grant the league 
neutrality upon demand. 

This proves that France was only bent on the 
humiliation of the emperor, Ferdinand ; in all other 
respects the purposes of the two partners differed 
widely. 

This money was very acceptable to Gustavus 
Adolphus. In Pomerania there was a dearth of every- 
thing. Because the soldiers finally began to mutiny, 
on account of the money due them, the king, as one 
historian puts it "had virtually to pay court to them." 
In spite of all he was hopeful for the future. "Those 
whose lives will be spared will witness my success," 

54 



Progress in Germany. 



he wrote to Oxenstjerna. At another time he wrote: 
"My cause rests in God's hands, and I console myself 
in this world with the firm hope of salvation in the 
next." 



55 



VI. 

The Fall of Madgeburg. 



The Swedish king had expected that the Evan- 
gelical princes and cities of Germany would at once 
make common cause with him. At first this hope was 
not realized as we perceived in Pomerania. The elec- 
tor of Saxony did not wish to take arms against his 
emperor. At a convention held in Leipzig, on the 
other hand, voices were raised advocating war. For 
instance the duke Bernhard of Saxe- Weimar spoke 
fervently in favor of a strict alliance of all Evangelical 
dukes and cities. 

"Life and property we must risk," said he, "in 
order that the oppressed political and spiritual liberty 
of Germany may be protected. The constant appeals 
to the emperor and the Catholic princes avail us noth- 
ing. The time has come to open our eyes and close 
our fists." 

The elector of Saxony knew how to suppress such 
ardor. 

"All due respect to your suggestion, cousin," he 
answered. "Yet the formation of a strict alliance is 
contrary to the constitution of the empire, and let us 
not desert the ground of law. Not until the emperor 

56 



The Fall of Magdeburg. 



rejects all propositions and the Catholic League 
refuses further negotiations, can we proceed to general 
arming." 

After a session of twenty days the convention at 
Leipzig adjourned. 

The king's ambassador, Chemnitz, came to Leip- 
zig. His proposition to the elector John George was 
in effect, that he should openly declare against the 
emperor, and if he did not wish to do this, he should 
at least support Sweden with money, favor their arms, 
and refuse the imperialists refuge, money and recruit- 
ing stations. Chemnitz spoke earnestly and urgently, 
but in vain. A mere semblance of treason against the 
emperor was for John George an unbearable thought ; 
but a compact with the Swedes an utter abomination. 
The ambassador was more successful with the lesser 
German electors, for Weimar, Cassel and Liineburg 
declared for Gustavus Adolphus. 

Meanwhile the latter without any assistance had 
advanced ever nearer to the Mark of Brandenburg. 
He was not, however, able to render the heavily 
oppressed Magdeburg any help; for in order to do 
so he would first be obliged to have possession of two 
Brandenburg fortresses, Kuerstrin and Spandau in 
order to protect his rear. The elector, George Wil- 
liam, a weak regent and timid man, strangely influ- 
enced by his Catholic minister, Schwarzenburg, was 

57 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



willing, under certain conditions, to open to him 
Kuerstrin, but Spandau never. 

Thus Gustavus Adolphus at the head of his army 
was forced to negotiate with his brother-in-law. With 
ten regiments of infantry, the entire cavalry and an 
adequate artillery he appeared at the end of April 163 1 
in Copenick near Berlin. Field-marshal Gustavus van 
Horn was ordered to Berlin. He was given the com- 
mission to insist on an immediate delivery of Kuestrin 
and Spandau, and to inform the elector that both 
places should be returned to him as soon as the king- 
had relieved Magdeburg. 

But Horn accomplished nothing and the danger 
to Magdeburg increased from day to day. 

Gustavus Adolphus now demanded a personal 
interview with George William. This took place on 
the 3rd of May in a summer-house before the gates 
of Berlin, and on the part of the elector was conducted 
very ceremoniously. 

The king said : "I forced the Imperialists to aban- 
don the greater part of New Brandenburg territory; 
I will also prevent their return in future. I should 
hold this service worthy of your recognition. My sol- 
diers will observe the strictest discipline, and not 
cause the inhabitants of the Mark any such miseries 
as they experienced in full measure from the Imperi- 
alists. But if Magdeburg is conquered, everything is 

58 



The Fall of Magdeburg. 



lost ! The enemy will return with renewed fury to the 
Mark, and Tilly will carry the war there." 

In reply to all these true words the elector only 
expressed the wish, that the king would grant him a 
short respite in order to get the opinion of his coun- 
sellors. 

In a short time he returned with the declaration 
that it was impossible to accede to the king's demands. 

Gustavus Adolphus did not longer hesitate. 
With 1,000 musketeers he entered Berlin. He was 
about to use force. Only through the mediation of 
the elector's wife and her mother, Louise Juliane of 
the Palatinate, were negotiations begun anew on the 
following day. 

The king expressed himself to several Branden- 
burger officers as follows : "I cannot think ill of the 
elector for hesitating in his resolve; certain it is that 
I ask of him serious and grave things. I do not ask 
it for myself, but for the benefit of the elector, his 
country and its people, yes, even for all Christendom." 

To the Duke John Albrecht of Mecklenburg he 
said aloud so that all the bystanders heard him : "My 
course leads to Magdeburg, to take possession of that 
town, not for my advantage, but for that of the Evan- 
gelicals. If no one will stand by me, I will retreat, 
clear myself of all reproaches, come to terms with the 
emperor and retire to Stockholm. I know the emperor 

59 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



will make an agreement if I desire it. But you will 
reap the result of your negligence, for if Magdeburg 
is lost, beware of the consequences !" 

To the Brandenburger ambassador von Wilmers- 
dorf, who was also opposed to the surrender of the 
fortress and the alliance with Sweden, which could not 
be concluded without embarrassing the honor and 
faithfulness due to the emperor, the king said: "You 
will be honored by losing your land and your people. 
The imperialists will keep faith with you as they have 
ever kept their capitulations !" 

When Wilmersdorf said : "We must keep in mind 
the future and remember how everything will be dis- 
turbed if the enterprise fail," the king responded 
quickly : "That will come to pass anyway, though you 
remain inactive ; it would have transpired already 
had I not come over from Sweden. Tell your master 
he shall do as I do and trust the outcome of the mat- 
ter to God. I have not lain in bed for fourteen weeks ; 
I too would like to be relieved of care and remain at 
home in peace, if I considered nothing else." 

When the embassador again referred to the fact 
that his electoral highness would rather remain neu- 
tral, the king burst out: "What is neutrality? Do 
you know ? Chaff which the wind takes up and scat- 
ters. I will have none of it." 

Late in the evening of this day the agreement 

60 



The Fall of Magdeburg. 



between Gustavus Adolphus and the elector George 
William of Brandenburg concerning the fortress was 
consummated. On the 6th of May several Swedish 
regiments occupied Spandau and swore allegiance to 
the elector. In Kuestrin the Brandenburger garrison 
was retained, but was obliged to take the oath of alle- 
giance to the king of Sweden. 

Immediately after the taking of Spandau by the 
Swedes, the imperialists in Brandenburg, Havelberg 
and Rathenow retired to Magdeburg. Gustavus Adol- 
phus advanced from Berlin to Potsdam, in order to 
relieve this heavily oppressed city. From here he 
endeavored to win the elector of Saxony to his cause, 
and demanded that he proceed with his military forces 
along the west bank of the Elbe as far as Dessau and 
there join the Swedish forces approaching on the east 
bank. If he did not care to do this, he should at least 
relinquish to the Swedish king the fortress at Wit- 
temberg. 

The answer of the elector of Saxony, which at the 
king's request was shortly delivered at Saarmund, 
was negative. It contained these words : "It is im- 
possible for me to take measures contrary to my duty 
as a German elector. The surrender of Wittemberg 
would transfer the war to the electorate of Saxony, 
and plunge my country and my people into heavy mis- 
fortune." 

61 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



The king was very indignant, nay angry at such 
conduct in an evangelical prince. "These people are 
determined to rush to their doom," he exclaimed. 
"Well, so be it! I will retire to Pomerania and wait 
until all these wise politicians stand at the precipice 
of ruin and are forced to call on me for help. But 
Magdeburg will go to destruction and with it the last 
vestige of German liberty !" 

This soon happened; a day later on the ioth of 
May 1 641 a dreadful fate overtook the city. 

Tilly and Pappenheim besieged the city with 
30,000 men. Toward the end of March the condition 
of the inhabitants became very precarious. They were 
driven from their fortifications and finally from their 
suburbs. The indefatigable Falkenburg saw the 
storm approach. He did his duty to the extent of his 
ability. 

In the early part of May Pappenheim erected 
three batteries in the ruins of Neustadt. Five others 
were raised at three opposite points. Tilly ordered 
the inhabitants to surrender, but met with a refusal. 
The Magdeburgers hoped for speedy relief from the 
Swedes near by. Tilly also feared the approaching 
enemy : he acted quickly. On the 8th and 9th of May 
he bombarded the city. Pappenheim succeeded in 
gaining and holding the trench. He prepared for an 
attack. During the night from the 9th to the ioth of 

62 



The Fall of Magdeburg. 



May, Tilly removed several heavy guns from his for- 
tifications. His plan really was to give up the siege. 
But Pappenheim differed from him and prevailed. 
The citizens, reassured by the withdrawal of the guns, 
had for the greater part returned to their homes, when 
suddenly at seven o'clock the bombarding began from 
all sides. Bravely as the terrified Magdeburgers and 
the courageous soldiers of the administrator fought, 
they soon succumbed to the superior forces : through 
every gate, breach and opening the savage troops of 
Tilly and Pappenheim rushed into the city, like the 
swelling waves of the sea, which has broken its dykes. 
A fearful carnage began ; neither age nor sex was 
spared; swords, lances, bullets and flames devastated 
frightfully. No place was safe, no sanctuary pro- 
tected ; with brutal lust and fiendish glee the con- 
querors raged and ravaged. 

"The Magdeburger marriage" the imperial and 
league soldiers called this day: they there were wed- 
ded to the shame and disgrace, and to the curse of 
contemporaries and posterity ! Officers of the army, 
moved by the boundless misery of the people, begged 
Tilly to restrain by an authoritative decree the reckless 
soldiers from further torturing, plundering and mur- 
dering. "Come again after an hour," he answered, 
"the soldier must be recompensed for his pains and 
danger." Pappenheim wrote to the emperor at 

63 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



Vienna : "Since the fall of Troy and Jerusalem no 
greater victory has ever been won. My only regret is 
that your imperial ladies did not witness all, in order 
to bestow upon me a knight's reward. 

Within a few hours the flourishing city of Mag- 
deburg lay in ashes ; only the tower and cathedral 
remained, like threatening fingers raised as if to swear 
that the surviving generation would wreak vengeance 
for this wanton outrage. Only 3,000 of the 33,000 
inhabitants were spared ; among these was the admin- 
istrator Margrave Christian William of Brandenburg, 
who was carried a prisoner to Vienna. Falkenburg 
fell with honor early in the street-fights. 

On the 13th of May, Tilly entered the smoulder- 
ing and gory ruins. His frightful victory was cele- 
brated by mass in the cathedral. 

Later historians pronounce Tilly innocent of the 
serious charge of having so ruthlessly destroyed Mag- 
deburg, and cast the burden of the crime on the fiery, 
zealous and fanatical Pappenheim. But Tilly was 
chief while the former was only subordinate. His 
subsequent fate proves his consciousness of guilt. 
After Magdeburg's fall he achieved no material vic- 
tories ; the hero of more than twenty battles was 
doomed henceforth to succumb to the enemy; the 
curse of his misdeeds at Magdeburg had banished for- 
tune from him forever. 



64 



The Fall of Magdeburg. 



A cry of distress rang through Protestant Ger- 
many at the news of Magdeburg's fall and frightful 
devastation. Occasionally a malevolent person would 
ascribe the blame for this terrible catastrophe to Gus- 
tavus Adolphus. In defense of himself he issued a 
manifesto in which he fearlessly designated the unre- 
liability of the electors of Saxony and Brandenburg as 
the cause of this great calamity. 

Meanwhile the king's forces had wrested Meck- 
lenburg from the imperialists. The king himself later 
in August brought back the old dukes to the capital 
of the country, Giistrow, amid great festivities ; and 
gained in them faithful allies. The city of Greifswald 
was conquered by the Swedish general Tott. 

Gustavus Adolphus after the fall of Magdeburg 
had withdrawn from the town of Saarmund, which 
was under the protection of Spandau. Now that Mag- 
deburg was ruined the elector of Brandenburg 
appeared and demanded, in view of the agreement 
concluded between the king and himself in May, the 
restoration of Spandau. 

Gustavus Adolphus exhausted all means to con- 
ciliate his brother-in-law. Nothing availed, all his 
good words were in vain. Finally he became angry. 
"Well and good" he exclaimed to the negotiator, 
"early tomorrow Spandau shall be evacuated by my 

65 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



troops, but I demand the return of all my papers. My 
friendship with Brandenburg is hereby terminated." 

At once the entire Swedish army marched toward 
Berlin. It was placed in line of battle before the gates 
of the capital, all the artillery was loaded, hauled to 
the front, and directed against the electoral castle. 

Only when he found himself in this extremely 
dangerous position, did the elector change his mind. 
Not only was Spandau relinquished to the king during 
the entire continuation of the war, but an alliance 
offensive and defensive was concluded. Brandenburg 
obligated itself to pay a monthly military tax of 
30,000 dollars. 



% 



VII. 

The Encampment on the Elbe and the Alliance 
"With Saxony, 



Tilly marched from the Magdeburg ruins to 
Erfurt. From this place he could cut off the land- 
grave of Hesse from Gustavus Adolphus. Neverthe- 
less he only tarried a short time. In order to give his 
troops better resources he went to Muhlhausen and 
later threatened Cassel. The news of Gustavus Adol- 
phus' approach induced him to adopt other measures. 

At the end of June we find the king at Branden- 
burg. The entire eastern shore of the Elbe as far as 
Magdeburg was in his power ; it was now his purpose 
to gain the western shore during Tilly's absence. He 
crossed the river at Jericho and Tangermunde on 
pontoons built with greatest dispatch. At the latter 
town he had occasion to meet Pappenheim for the first 
time. He forced him, after a short fight, to abandon 
his position on the western bank. He then took pos- 
session of the famous fortress at Werben, at that time 
one of the strongest in all Germany. 

Recalled by Pappenheim's courier Tilly also 
marched thither. 

Gustavus Adolphus soon convinced him that he 
67 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



was prepared not only for resistance, but for an attack. 
In three divisions the Swedes made a night attack 
upon the enemy's flank. General Bandissin overthrew 
Montecuculi's riders at Burgstall the king himself the 
Bernstein regiment at Reindorf, and the Rhine-grave 
surprised Hoik's dragoons with a violent attack at the 
village of Angern. This attack cost Tilly a thousand 
men and two cannon. Harassed day and night by the 
Swedish cavalry, he hastened to Werben, in order to 
persuade his far weaker enemy to engage in an open 
battle. But Gustavus Adolphus remained quietly hi 
his fortifications; he cherished other plans, of which 
we shall presently hear. Smaller engagements oc- 
curred daily. While the king shrewdly opened battle 
in front of Werben, Swedish skirmishers went to the 
east shore of the Elbe, and appearing in the rear of 
the enemy, intercepted the convoys, which came from 
Halberstadt, Ouedlinburg and other directions. 
Within a radius of eight iniles food was not attain- 
able for Tilly's numerous cavalry. Bread too was 
wanting, and even water, so indispensable during the 
oppressive heat. Tilly soon came to the conclusion 
that he was not strong enough to force the king from 
his secure position. Under the circumstances he con- 
sidered it advisable to withdraw. On the 19th of July, 
early morning he broke camp ; he first withdrew to 
Tangermund, where he thoroughly intrenched himself 



The Encampment on the Elbe, Etc. 

in order to be secure against the Swedes. Hunger 
drove him from here by the middle of August. As he 
dared not go to the east shore of the Elbe, he returned 
to the neighborhood of Magdeburg, whence he 
marched two months previously with such high hopes. 
The withdrawal of Tilly with his purpose unaccom- 
plished was the first result of the excellent position of 
the king at Werben ; the second was the already men- 
tioned re-instatement of the dukes of Mecklenburg; 
and the third, Sweden's treaty with the landgrave of 
Hessen-Cassel. 

Meanwhile the king received re-inf orcements : 
from Sweden itself there came 2,000 men, and the 
Englishman Hamilton came to his aid with 6,000 more. 

These events induced Tilly to turn his eyes to 
the flourishing fields of Saxony, which until now had 
escaped the long destructive wars. He had no other 
resource to enable him to maintain his position in 
middle Germany ; he was cut off from the lower Elbe 
by the king ; from Franken, Westphalia and the Rhine 
by the dukes of Hessen and Weimar ; from Silesia by 
the devastated Mark of Brandenburg and the Brit- 
ish Hamilton whom the king had sent thither; and 
from the hereditary estates of Austria by the neutral 
elector of Saxony. 

It was necessary for him, with the consent of the 
emperor to make an end to this neutrality. 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



Gustavus Adolphus had anticipated this move; 
for this reason he had until now waged no battle. 
Pressed by Tilly, the elector of Saxony would be 
obliged to unite his forces with the king's. 

Tilly now hastened from Magdeburg, where he 
had made the necessary repairs in the fortifications, to 
Eisleben. From here he dispatched several ambassa- 
dors to Merseberg, the elector's court residence. They 
were instructed to tell him to open his country to the 
imperialists, to join Tilly against the Swedes or to 
expect to be treated as an enemy. 

The elector, as was his wont, received the ambas- 
sadors graciously, and entertained them sumptuously 
at his table. But as the dessert was served he said 
to them : "I plainly see that the reserved Saxon tid- 
bit is £o be devoured. But beware, gentlemen, that 
you do not spoil your teeth, for it is likely to contain 
all kinds of hard nuts, which are difficult to crack." 

The following day he announced boldly that un- 
less he wished his country devastated he could not 
enter into a treaty with the emperor. 

Shortly after, — the elector had scarcely repaired 
to his army — Pappenheim advanced with fire and 
sword into the neighborhood of Merseberg. On the 
30th of August Tilly appeared before Leipzig with his 
entire army. He bombarded it, the suburbs were 
devoured by flames and the city capitulated in a dis- 

70 



The Encampment on the Elbe, Etc. 

graceful manner when it might have resisted. The 
capitulation was concluded in the grave-digger's 
house, which alone had escaped the flames. Horror 
overcame Tilly when he saw the death heads and skel- 
etons, scythes and hour-glasses pictured on the walls. 

At the news of Leipzig's surrender, the Saxon 
army marched hastily under the ramparts of Torgau. 
From here the hardpressed elector petitioned help 
from Gustavus Adolphus, whose headquarters were in 
Brandenburg. The Saxon field-marshal von Arnim 
came thither. The king received him very coldly, 
because he had formerly by his counsels greatly 
injured the cause of Sweden. 

Gustavus Adolphus shrugged his shoulders and 
said : "I regret the fate of the elector, but it is his own 
fault. Had he joined me in the spring, Saxony would 
never have seen an enemy in its country, and unfortu- 
nate Magdeburg would still be standing. This disas- 
ter is the natural consequence of the vacillating policy 
of your master. Now that his neck is endangered, he 
seeks my help; but I am not minded, for the sake of 
the elector of Saxony, to plunge myself and my faith- 
ful allies into disaster." 

The king strode restlessly back and forth through 
the room. Arnim tried to appease him with smooth 
words. 

71 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



"Merely talk," stormed the king; "I understand 
that." 

"Who will vouch for the fidelity of a prince whose 
highest officers enjoy the imperial favor, and who 
would himself desert me again as soon as Tilly's 
position became more promising?" 

Arnim exerted his eloquence to influence him 
favorably toward Saxony. 

The king finally closed the interview; Arnim 
withdrew ; with fleet horses he hastened to Torgau — 
only to reappear in Brandenburg. 

After a prolonged waiting, the king again admit- 
ted him ; Saxony of all countries had treated him most 
shabbily. 

In the most flattering manner Arnim said : "My 
master, in view of the recent transactions does not in 
the least condemn the precautions which your majesty 
takes for future protection. But I beg your majesty 
earnestly to state the conditions which you exact from 
my master. He is ready to furnish all possible secur- 
ities." 

The king still hesitated; Arnim appealed to his 
magnanimity, saying the king surely would not allow 
a protestant prince whose country was the cradle of 
the Reformation, to plead in vain for help and pro- 
tection. 

"Very well," said the king, apparently yielding, 

72 



The Encampment on the Elbe, Etc. 

and approaching Arnim, "I demand that the elector 
evacuate Wittenberg, give me the crown-prince as a 
hostage, banish without delay the traitors from his 
secret council" — he waited a moment, his eyes fixed 
on Arnim, who grew hot — "pay my army quarterly 
wages ; and conclude with me an offensive and defen- 
sive alliance." 

Arnim's authority did not extend so far as to 
accede to these demands. He hastened to Torgau. 

When he communicated them to the elector, the 
latter was highly elated: "Not only shall Wittenberg 
and Torgau but all Saxony be open to the king of 
Sweden, I will give myself and mine as hostages, if 
he demand it. The king shall name the traitors, I will 
immediately dismiss them. With pleasure will I pay 
the stipulated wages, and sacrifice my life and posses- 
sions to the oppressed Evangelical cause." 

When Arnim delivered this answer to the king, 
it almost embarrassed him. With great friendliness 
he said : "Confidence begets confidence. Let the past 
be forgiven and forgotten. I will waive all conditions, 
and only desire for my army the quarterly wages." 

The king broke camp with his army. His way 
led over Wittenberg. As he crossed the bridge over 
the Elbe here, the students greeted him with thunder- 
ing cheers. 

In the small Saxon town of Kemberg the king 

73 



Gustavns Adolphus in Germany. 



took a day of rest. He had scarcely reached his quar- 
ters, when a multitude of people assembled at his win- 
dows. When he questioned the provost of the place, 
Jeremiah Spiegel, who happened to be with him, about 
the cause of this crowd, the latter answered : "The 
people would like to see the great king of Sweden." 
He quickly left the room and, appearing in the street, 
called to the crowd : "Dear children, here you see a 
great sinner of Sweden, whom artless people call the 
great king of Sweden. God forgive them." . . . 

From Kemberg the king's path led to Duben on 
the Mulde. Here both armies united on the 5th oi 
September in a body of 40,000 men. The rejoicing 
was great. Two days later Tilly's fortune at arms and 
emperor Ferdinand's superiority were things of the 
past. 



VIIL 

The Battle of Breitenfeld. 



On the morning of the 7th of September, 1631, 
the king convened the Swedish and Saxon generals in 
his headquarters at Wolkau. The electors of Bran- 
denburg and Saxony also appeared. 

The king emphasized the fact that they had before 
them a mighty and powerful enemy ; an enemy whose 
flag had often led to victory; but all previous con- 
quests could in a few hours be wrested from him if 
they stood courageously united. Magdeburg is to be 
revenged ; the true faith protected ; and he doubted 
not that the Lord whose strong arm had heretofore 
shielded him would again prove faithful and strong. 
The enemy's camp, loaded with rich booty, was before 
Leipzig, and with a fortunate turn of affairs the rich- 
est section of Germany would be open to them, and 
they would be rewarded for their bravery, their efforts 
and their hardships. 

When the leaders communicated these words of 
the king to their soldiers a prolonged rejoicing ensued. 
The courage of the army was heightened particularly 
by the hope of finally bringing Tilly, the old corporal, 
the hated destroyer of Magdeburg, to account. Many 

75 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



wonderful tales of Tilly's waning power were indulged 
in. 

The chroniclers report that on the 18th and 19th 
of June 1 63 1 terrible miraculous signs were observed 
in Ashersleben. Two armies engaged in violent fight- 
ing were visible in a clear sky. The one came out of 
noonday, the other from midnight and — the one out 
of midnight remained victor. A man in long robes, 
with bow and arrow shot the leader who had come 
from the army out of the noonday. Also : In the little 
town of Sonnenwalde in Lausitz a violent shooting 
and cannonading was heard as if muskets and guns 
had been discharged. In the direction of the noon-day 
sun the noise finally ceased. 

Further: During a severe thunderstorm at Wit- 
tenberg in the night between the 20th and 21st of June 
on the great parapet on the ramparts a rider with a 
large black dog had attacked the sentry, whereupon 
the latter had cried out undismayed : "Who goes there?" 
— Answer: The Watch. The soldier asked: "Rider 
on duty?" when a mocking laugh ensued. As this 
rider after an hour returned, exactly on the stroke of 
twelve, the sentinel distinctly recognized the figrue of 
Count Tilly, mounted headless on his horse. 

The aged Tilly, as late as the evening of the 6th, 
was determined not to give battle ; the younger com- 

76 



The Battle at Breitenfeld. 



manders, especially Pappenheim disagreed. He con- 
sidered Tilly's caution senility, his hesitation fear. 

Early on the 7th of September the Swedish-Saxon 
army lined up in battle array before Wolkau. Tilly 
approached from Etruria. 

On the march against the enemy Gustavus 
Adolphus gave his cavalry-men, who were mostly 
mounted on small, weak horses, good advice. Said he, 
"When you engage the imperialists, who ride heavy 
stallions, and you find yourselves unable, on account 
of their armor, to reach their ribs, strike for the 
horses, and forcing your dagger in deep rip the 
wound wide open ; then man and beast will soon sink 
upon the ground. 

Tilly's restlessness visibly increased as the Swedes 
came nearer; their movements and tactics were new 
to him; he realized he was dealing with an enemy 
who was a match for him. The mercenaries of Mans- 
field and the Brunswickers had been much easier to 
overcome. 

Tilly, a small hoary old man, who, on account of 
a peaked shrivelled face and a long snow-white beard, 
had a somewhat uncanny appearance wore a green 
satin dress. A long red feather waved on his Span- 
ish hat ; his horse was strikingly large and powerful. 

The moment awaited with painful suspense on 
both sides was drawing nearer. Pappenheim's impet- 

77 



Gustavus Adolphus in German^. 



uosity opened the battle. Having gone too far in 
reconnoitering among the enemy and being hard- 
pressed, he demanded immediate assistance from Tilly, 
who rendered it unwillingly with the remark: 'This 
man will rob me of honor and good name and the 
emperor of land and people." 

The battle began at Loberbach. Pappenheim's 
cavalry, now greatly strengthened, for some time pre- 
vented the king from crossing. Yet — Pappenheim 
was repulsed. To the right of the burning town of 
Podelwitz Gustavus Adolphus formed his skillful line 
of battle: Infantry and cavalry exchanged with one 
another in small squads. The imperial troops advanced 
at Gobschelwitz in two lines. Arnim commanded the 
first, the elector the second. 

The watch-word of the imperialists was : "Jesus, 
Maria" ; that of the Swedes and Saxons : "God with 
us." 

Heavy cannonading thundered from both sides. 
During the first attack the Swedes had the wind and 
dust against them. For a long time they defended 
themselves by skillful turns. Pappenheim vehemently 
attacked the right wing, which Baner commanded. 
His plan was to outflank it. — The danger increased. 
The king himself hastened to the relief of the danger- 
ous situation. A furious fight ensued. Pappenheim 
endeavored to force a victory, but the combined effect 

78 



The Battle at Breitenfeld. 



of the cavalry-men's swords, the infantry's guns, and 
the small easily handled cannon was irresistible. A 
regiment of infantry following Pappenheim was 
entirely destroyed. 

While these events were transpiring on the Swed- 
ish line, General Fiirstenberg's heavy cavalry attacked 
the Saxons occupying the extreme left wing. For a 
time these offered the bravest resistance; but when 
the enemy threw more and more forces into the fight, 
their ranks finally broke; whole companies threw 
away their weapons and fled. The elector himself gal- 
loped to Eilenburg, Arnim fled to the ranks of the 
Swedes. 

By this procedure the king's left flank was seri- 
ously threatened. 

It was now that Gustavus Adolphus' generalship 
recovered the battle. A second line together with the 
reserve, quickly joined the first. A new sword and 
fire line loomed up before the enemy. The attacks 
crowded and repeated themselves, man fought against 
man, hand to hand until finally the king, like a storm 
overcoming all opposition, broke his way into the midst 
of the enemy. 

At this moment the news came that Baner had 
vanquished the left wing of the enemy and was repuls- 
ing him in the direction of Breitenfeld. 

The king ordered a general forward movement. 

79 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



He rode a fiery roan horse, wore a grey coat over his 
elk-cape; and a wide-brimmed hat with a green 
feather adorned his head. His ranks at present in 
diverging lines, formed again and advanced, the cav- 
alry leading up the heights, where the enemy's artillery 
stood. It was such an onslaught as none could with- 
stand. All the batteries fell into the king's hands; 
they were rapidly reversed and their murderous mis- 
siles crashed into the centre and reserve of the enemy. 
The rout was complete; fear and terror took hold on 
all; every one that had a horse or legs fled. Tilly 
himself was in the greatest danger. A Swedish cap- 
tain of horse was close at his heels and recognizing 
him, pounded him on the neck and back with a pistol 
until he himself was shot by an imperial rider. 

In a rectangle formed by several veteran regi- 
ments that were still intact, Tilly marched back to 
Halle. He was very weak and much affected, had 
received three shots, none of which, however, had 
struck home. The report soon spread that he was 
taken prisoner. 

Over 6,000 of the enemy strewed the battle-field ; 
the Saxons had lost 2,000; the Swedes only 700 men. 
Besides these, at least 5,000 imperial and league sol- 
diers fell into the hands of the pursuing victors. 
Tilly's beautiful army was annihilated in a few hours ; 

80 



The Battle at Breitenfeld. 



his artillery lost; the fame of his invincibility gone 
forever. 

Gustavus Adolphus, as soon as he realized the 
victorious outcome of his attack, fell on his knees 
among the dead and wounded, and with the fervency 
peculiar to him gave thanks to the Lord of hosts for 
the glorious victory. In the starlight a thanksgiving 
service was held and the choral : "A mighty fortress 
is our God," was sung. From numerous surrounding 
villages the bells pealed out on the mild summer night, 
and on the heights for miles around bonfires blazed. 

Couriers recalled the elector of Saxony who had 
fled. The re-assembled cavalry and infantry of his 
scattered army captured Leipzig after a few days, and 
thus shared in a small measure the great victory of 
the Swedes. 

As the destruction of Magdeburg a short time 
ago had called forth rejoicing and exultation from 
Catholic Germany, so the defeat of Tilly at Breiten- 
feld and Leipzig spread fear and dismay among them. 
The elector of Bavaria trembled, and the emperor him- 
self was ill at ease. The "little enemy" had grown to 
be a powerful foe. 

Among the Protestants, however, Gustavus Adol- 
phus' name very soon became highly honored ; songs 
and portraits immortalized the hero as the saviour of 
spiritual and political liberty. 

81 



IX. 

Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March Through 
Thuringia, Franconia and Bavaria* 



The king rested for a few days in Halle. The 
elector of Saxony also reported here soon after. He 
feared reproaches but met with a very gracious recep- 
tion. 

The king was holding a council of war in Moritz- 
burg. Many princes were present; the object was to 
turn to the best advantage the late brilliant victory. 

"Straight to Vienna, your majesty," was the 
advice of the elector of Saxony, whose courage had 
now waxed strong. "The road is clear since it leads 
largely through Evangelical countries : Bohemia and 
Moravia will greet you cordially, and join forces with 
you ! Before the walls of Vienna the laws shall be 
dictated to the emperor Ferdinand!" 

Prince Ludwig of Anhalt advised the king to 
pursue Tilly's army, which in all probability would 
re-assemble in Westphalia. 

The duke Frederick Adolphus referred to the 
devastated north German countries which were not 
able to support one army, much less two. 

The elector of Saxony reiterated his suggestion, 

82 



Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March, Etc. 

that the king march against Vienna ; he himself would 
offer the league the sword. 

A slight shadow flitted across the cheerful coun- 
tenance of Gustavus Adolphus : The elector of Sax- 
ony would never be capable of this task. 

Duke William of Saxe- Weimar, the elder brother 
of the duke Bernhard, proposed another plan. "My 
dear sir," said he to the king, "you must penetrate the 
so-called Pfaffengasse, gain possession of the course 
of the Main, and settle on the Rhine. Only in this 
way is it possible to attract to ourselves the Protes- 
tants there, and break the league's remaining power." 

This plan prevailed. To the king it appeared 
much more advantageous than an advance to Vienna. 
He hoped to reach that city in this roundabout way. 
He also knew that in a march to southwestern Ger- 
many he stood the best chance of meeting Tilly again. 
His words were: "I will pursue this old corporal to 
the end of the earth." 

Gustavus Adolphus was severely criticized for 
going to the Rhine instead of Vienna, even by his 
clever chancellor Oxenstjerna, who on meeting him at 
Frankfort on the Main, called to him : "I rejoice Sire 
to find you here a famous victor, but it were more 
agreeable to me to greet you in the royal residence at 
Vienna." 

While the Swedes now kept themselves in readi- 

83 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



ness for an invasion into the fertile and sunny coun- 
tries of southwest Germany, the Saxons occupied 
Bohemia and their native country almost without 
resistance; but accorded to the imperial estates and 
officers the most considerate treatment. 

On the 17th of September the Swedish army 
began its march from Halle to Erfurt. It reached this 
place on the 24th. In order to conciliate the inhabi- 
tants of this city, the king at once gave audience to 
the magistrates and the administrators of the guilds. 

In a lengthy and excellent address he emphasized 
the cause which had induced him to take part in the 
German war : the rescue of the threatened Evangelical 
liberty. 

He then spoke of his labors and hardships for the 
sa]ce of this blessing. "It is true," he said, "I am still 
strong and well, but I must meet anew an embittered 
enemy, who will endeavor in every way to injure me, 
and put me out of the way. But whatever comes I 
shall accept as a dispensation from God. I would 
consider myself happy if the Lord in heaven ordained 
me to suffer danger or death for His name's sake." 

He showed himself very patient and humane 
toward the Catholics in Erfurt. To the deans of the 
cathedral he said: "Inform your master, the elector 
of Mayence, that he would do me a favor by with- 
drawing his troops from the army of the league. I 

84 



Gustavus Adolphns' Triumphal March, Etc. 

am not come to oppress the electors, but to defend 
them and it would grieve me exceedingly to be forced 
to hostilities. " 

To the Jesuits he said with his accustomed can- 
dor: "You will some day be called to answer before 
heaven for the unrest and bloodshed you have caused. 
I know more about you than you imagine. Your 
intentions and teachings are evil, your behavior crimi- 
nal. I advise you to take care and not meddle here- 
after in affairs of state." 

From Erfurt his march proceeded over the inhos- 
pitable roads of the Thuringian forests. It was his 
plan to penetrate the wealthy bishopric at Wurzburg. 
The key to it, the fortress of Konigshofen, readily fell 
into his hands. The city itself he was obliged to take 
by force. The castle resisted longest. The brave 
defenders lay in rows in the court, the corridors and 
rooms. Many, however, had only feigned death in 
order not to meet it at the hands of the conquerors. 
When the king on his entrance into the castle per- 
ceived the many rosy vigorous countenances among 
the cold corpses he said laughingly: "Arise, no harm 
shall come to you !" More than a dozen obeyed. 

Meanwhile Tilly had received re-inforcements, 
had united with the troops of the duke of Lorraine, 
and raged fearfully in Hessen. He burned with a 
desire to measure arms anew with the king and to 

85 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



atone for Leipzig. He received, however, from the 
elector of Bavaria, his real superior, the express com- 
mand not to attack Gustavus Adolphus, nor to risk 
the fate of Bavaria and Swabia. The aged Tilly wept 
over this. By the conquest of Hanau, which the Held- 
marshal Gustavus van Horn accomplished, the way to 
Frankfurt was open to the king. As he approached 
this city ambassadors of the senate met him and 
urgently begged him to avoid Frankfurt, or, at least 
to spare the city an encampment. 

The king answered : "It surprises me greatly that 
you value your ease and your rations higher than your 
conscience. From the largely Evangelical population 
of Frankfurt I had expected better things. On the 
road from Usedom to the Main I obtained the key to 
many cities, I will not allow Frankfurt to lock its 
doors against me. Furthermore, I do not come for 
my own advantage, but in the interest of religious 
liberty and the general welfare." 

He energetically refused the subterfuge of the 
Frankfurters to consult the elector of Mayence, their 
bishop, about the surrender of the town, adding : "As 
master of the town of Aschaffenburg, I now occupy 
the place of the elector of Mayence, and can impart 
to you as vigorous a resolution as he." 

The king entered Frankfurt on the 14th of No- 
vember. Mayence did not fall into his hands so 



Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March, Etc. 

quickly. The Spaniards here defended the clerical 
elector for weeks, but finally this town also flung open 
its gates to the victor. 

From here the king returned to Frankfurt. He 
had the great pleasure of greeting his beloved wife 
here after a separation of one and one half years. 

And what a meeting! Her bold giant of the 
north was master of half of Germany. 

The whole royal army encamped around Mayence 
during the winter. It was pleasant to live here; for 
this stretch of the great German country was until now 
little affected by the long war, and the inhabitants of 
the cities and villages were well supplied with pro- 
visions of all kinds. 

An abundance, such as they had never enjoyed, 
existed in the Swedish camp. The soldiers would sell 
a cow to the citizens or peasants for one dollar, a 
sheep, hog or calf for 5 to 6 pennies. In the former 
wars of Gustavus Adolphus, namely the Polish and 
Prussian, the soldiers had to content themselves with 
water and mouldy bread, now they prepared their 
cold drinks in their helmets with wine, zwieback or 
rolls. 

Like the king the field-marshals were victorious 
at all points. 

The cause of the emperor and the league were in 
a bad plight. The fall of both was prophesied with 

87 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



certainty. Scarcely 50,000 men, scattered here and 
there over Germany, were at their disposal. Besides 
Hungary was threatened by the Turks and in Ob der 
Ens an uprising of the Evangelical peasants, who 
demanded liberty and the restoration of their churches 
and preachers, caused the emperor much uneasiness. 

We must not conceal the strained relations be- 
tween Ferdinand and Max of Bavaria. The latter 
had concluded a secret truce with France. Richelieu 
himself feared further victories of the king. He had 
not imagined his progress so rapid and so brilliant. 
He now regretted having built for him the golden 
bridge to Germany. Instead of having for a neighbor 
the less dangerous German emperor he now had the 
glorious intrepid Gustavus Adolphus. 

And when the latter in the spring of the year 
1632 threatened to garrison German Alsace and Lor- 
raine, the Parisian cabinet grew pale with fear. Fur- 
ther reports were to the effect that this crusade was 
for the protection of the French Huguenots (Protes- 
tants) and that the king's intention was to cross the 
Alps with 70,000 men and depose the pope. 

The present French ambassador Marquis of Breze 
begged Gustavus Adolphus in the name of his mon- 
arch not to press on to Alsace as France wished to do 
this and unite to itself a province which even in king 
Dagobert's time belonged to this crown. 



Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March, Etc. 

The king was enraged: "I came not over the 
Baltic sea to be a traitor to the German empire but 
as its protector, and will never give my consent that 
a province or even a city be severed from it." 

When the ambassador suggested that the French 
army now gathered on the border of Lorraine should 
repair to Germany and support the Swedes, the king 
rejected this offer with the words: "I doubt exceed- 
ingly whether two armies so unlike could agree in 
Germany. It were better that the king of France 
should attack the emperor's confederates, the Span- 
iards in Catalonia or elsewhere, and allow me to 
carry on the war in Germany on my own responsi- 
bility." 

It happened that at this time the elector of Bava- 
ria also sought from Gustavus Adolphus neutrality 
for himself and his country under certain conditions. 
But the latter was not minded to have terms dictated 
but rather to name his own. The sword was soon to 
decide matters between him and the proud prince of 
Bavaria. 

Simultaneous negotiations for peace between 
Gustavus Adolphus and the emperor, whose mediator 
was the elector of Mayence likewise came to naught. 

The king invaded Franconia in the spring after 
Tilly, who now besieged Nuremberg, had rioted in the 
territory of Anspach. But he was obliged to abandon 

89 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



this enterprise on account of the treachery of one of 
his gunners who had blown up his whole supply of 
powder — 125 hundredweight, and done great injury 
to his army. Tilly marched to Nordlingen. There 
he discharged the last remnant of the troops brought 
over by the duke of Lorraine. 

The bishop of Bamberg first felt the power of 
the Swedish hand. It was Horn who attacked here, 
and though he suffered great loss Gustavus Adolphus 
repaired it. 

With 40,000 men the king now marched from 
Forschheim to Erlangen and beyond. Having reached 
Fiirth he was greeted by a deputation of Nuremberger 
patriots and invited to honor their city with his pres- 
ence. 

Gustavus Adolphus gladly consented. Nurem- 
berg had long ago become dear to him. He had lately 
promised the city the glorious German estates which 
lay within municipal jurisdiction, and had allowed 
Nuremberger merchants to travel to the Frankfurter 
spring fair under Swedish escort. 

With immeasurable rejoicing he was received by 
the Nurembergers. At a brilliant banquet which the 
city gave in his honor, after the elders had presented 
him with a costly silver cup, he made a lengthy speech 
from which we quote the following: 

"Never swerve from the precious Evangelical 

90 



Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March, Etc. 

religion ! Your enemies will leave no stone un- 
turned, — therefore stand firm ! Consider to what 
dangers you would be exposed, if you fall into their 
power. I can not overcome my surprise and must 
ascribe it to the grace of God that the enemy did not 
again take possession of Nuremberg since he occupied 
it for two or three years previously. God has pro- 
tected you in just such a miraculous way as He has 
called me to this holy work. I had never hoped to 
come into your city, which I long loved and prized 
on account of your works of art, trade and commerce. 
I have heretofore avoided no danger for the sake of 
the Evangelical religion and German liberty, and will 
in the future at the risk of my life, do all I possibly 
can for the same, and particularly for your city. Have 
patience and suffer yet a little longer ! Be firm, fight 
a good fight and keep the faith, and God will preserve 
you henceforth, and cause your city to increase in the 
riches of faith, and grant you the earthly and here- 
after a heavenly crown." 

The king only remained in Nuremberg for the 
afternoon ; toward evening he followed his army, 
which was passing close by the city in its march 
toward Swabia. 

A few days later we find him in Donauworth. 
This city formed the bridge across the Danube into 
Bavaria. A second road led over the Lech. Tilly 

91 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



here maintained a firm position at the little town of. 
Rain, and to insure his own safety he had cut off all 
the bridges as far as Augsburg. His camp held a 
valuable treasure; namely, the elector Max of Bava- 
ria, who was now greatly alarmed about the safety of 
his hereditary estates. 

Gustavus Adolphus personally appeared at the 
Lech. He did not conceal from himself that the pas- 
sage over this river, and the attack upon Tilly who 
had deeply intrenched himself would be a difficult one. 
His field-officers agreed with him. The aged and 
experienced Horn tried urgently to dissuade him from 
an attack. 

"We," exclaimed the king at this protest, "we 
who have sailed across the Baltic sea and have crossed 
many of Germany's large and small streams, should 
fear to cross the Lech, when the solution of the prob- 
lem lies beyond?" 

On the same evening in the pale moonlight three 
batteries were erected and surrounded by a trench. 
Under cover of this 300 determined Finns built a 
bridge, and, as meanwhile a ford had been discovered 
the whole Swedish army had soon crossed to the east 
shore. 

Tilly attacked the Swedes with mortal courage 
before they could form and establish themselves. His 
old soldiers fought with the greatest skill, but the mis- 

92 



Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March, Etc. 

fortune which now befell their aged leader, disheart- 
ened all their columns. 

A Swedish falconet-bullet shattered the right leg 
of the commander-in-chief above the knee. He was 
still able to give the command for a retreat to Ingol- 
stadt. He died here after fifteen days of intense suf- 
fering. His last words to the elector, Max, who tar- 
ried at his death-bed were: "Hold Regensburg! the 
Bavarian elector's hat falls with that city !" 

Concerning the strength of the Bavarian position 
the king remarked : "Had I been master of it, I would 
never have been expelled, not even if a bullet had torn 
away beard and chin." 

The victory at Lech led Gustavus Adolphus to 
Augsburg. He immediately introduced again the 
Lutheran divine service, restored the old municipal 
government, placed a permanent Swedish garrison in 
the city, and had the inhabitants swear allegiance. He 
attended service in the St. Anna church. Dr. Fabri- 
cius, the court-chaplain, spoke on the text: "For the 
oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, 
now will I arise, saith the Lord ; I will set him in safety 
from him that would ensnare him." After the sermon 
the Te Deum was sung. 

The king hereupon repaired to the Fugger palace 
at the wine market, examined the venerable town-hall 
and arsenal and gave orders to be conducted to the 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



chamber in which the Evangelical princes 102 years 
before had presented to the mighty emperor, Charles 
V, their confession. 

Noble thoughts certainly filled Gustavus' soul at 
this time ; for he had restored in Germany to a great 
extent the confession which the catholic Hapsburgers 
and their Jesuits had trampled under foot. 

The siege of the fortress of Ingolstadt which he 
shortly undertook did not have the desired result. It 
seemed more important to the king to march to Munich, 
the capital of Bavaria. On the way he took Lands- 
hut. The citizens of this town had perpetrated great 
cruelties upon the Swedish prisoners. Filled with 
anxiety lest the victorious king would exercise the 
right of reprisals, the counsellors met him hal'f-way, 
offered him the keys of the city and fell prostrate, 
begging forgiveness. 

Gustavus Adolphus addressed them sternly; it 
was his intention to discipline Landshut for the cruel- 
ties and misdeeds. 

"When I consider your disgraceful actions against 
my brave soldiers, anger overcomes me. You cut off 
their noses and ears, chopped off their hands and feet. 
It were weakness for me to show you mercy. You 
shall be punished even as you have deserved to be." 

And yet his noble heart conquered, — he forgave 
94 



Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March, Etc. 

them. In Landshut the French ambassador also 
sought audience with the king. It was granted. 

Of late the jealousy of France over Gustavus 
Adolphus' victories had increased. King Louis XIII 
had taken occasion in the presence of the Venetian 
ambassador to say: It is high time to set a limit to 
the triumphal progress of the bold Goth. 

The ambassador demanded neutrality for the 
elector of Bavaria. It was a serious matter; the 
Frenchman haggled beyond all endurance. Gustavus 
Adolphus finally told him : "I will have nothing more 
to do with you, as you have no letters of authority 
from your sovereign." 

"Then I demand," said he, no less excited, "that 
your majesty at least state the conditions under which 
you are willing to grant the elector neutrality." 

"Well and good" exclaimed the king. "The 
Bavarian shall have peace, if he immediately discharges 
his troops, not delivering them to the emperor, and if 
he will take oath not to undertake hostilities against 
me or the crown of Sweden within three years. But 
I will have an answer by to-morrow, — yes or no ! 
If he shows, however, that he only dallies with me, I 
will take revenge; I will burn and desolate Bavaria 
in such a manner, that your flippant elector shall mar- 
vel." 

As the ambassador at the conclusion of the audi- 

95 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



ence ventured to ask the king how far he intended to 
carry his conquests, and where the limit would be, he 
answered rapidly : "There where my interest demands 
it." 

The threat that France would feel compelled to 
march on Sweden, was met by the king with the reply : 
"Then I will appear before Paris with 100,000 men." 

One consequence of these strained relations was, 
that the French subsidy came sparingly and finally 
ceased altogether. 

With the seizure of Landshut the way to old 
Bavaria was opened to the king. This was a good 
prospect for his army; for the war had until now 
wholly spared this country; houses, barns and cellars 
were stocked. 

But there was a different obstacle: the Swedes 
now came to a country, where the national spirit was 
inimical. On every Sunday fanatical preachers prayed 
to God from the pulpit: "Deliver us from the arch- 
enemy, the Swedish devil." 

The king shortly before crossing the boundary 
issued a strict mandate to his army. Among other 
things he said: "A soldier who shall within or with- 
out his quarters, or, on the highway plunder, or com- 
mit wrong shall be arrested and punished without 
clemency. No soldier may without especial permit 

96 



Gustavus Adol pints' Triumphal March, Etc. 

carry open or concealed weapons outside of his quar- 
ters." 

In Munich the approach of the king created a 
panic. The electoral treasury was transferred to 
Werfen; the elector's wife fled to Salzburg. 

The magistrate believed it to be the wisest course 
under the circumstances, to dispatch several deputies 
to the king at Freising to offer an agreement. How- 
ever Gustavus Adolphus would not listen to him, but 
demanded a voluntary surrender. The magistrate 
now approached the king, handed him the keys of the 
city and commended it to his mercy. 

Gustavus Adolphus met the deputation very gra- 
ciously. "You have done well," said he, "your sub- 
mission disarms me. I might with justice have 
avenged myself on your city for the misfortune of 
Magdeburg. But fear nothing, have no anxiety on 
account of your possessions, your families or your 
religion. Depart in peace, you have my word and that 
is worth more than all the articles of capitulation in 
the world." — 

On the 7th of May the king entered Munich. 
Only three regiments followed him ; the others 
camped outside the city. 

He took up his headquarters in the castle, where 
he had the opportunity to admire the splendor and 
tasteful arrangement of this ducal residence. "Who 

97 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



is the architect of this gorgeous palace?" he asked 
of the accompanying guard, while examining the same. 
"The elector himself," he answered. "O, that I could 
send this architect to Stockholm I" "My gracious 
lord and master will know how to prevent that," added 
the guide candidly; an answer which the king did 
not resent. 

The next morning he visited the arsenal. He 
found only gun-carriages, but no cannon. A peasant 
divulged the secret : they were buried under the floors. 
"Arise, you that are dead," the king called jocosely. 
The boards were raised and 140 cannon lay revealed. 
Among them was one bearing the name "Sow" and 
in it were hidden 30,000 ducats. 

At a military review, which the king conducted, 
all Munich streamed to the Isaargate and admired the 
superb army. The inhabitants observed how the king 
would dismount and now and again take the gun from 
the hand of a soldier, who did not do particularly well 
and show him how to shoot. 

By a visit to the church of the Jesuits he won 
over many thousand citizens. The rector greeted him 
in a Latin address, to which he gracefully responded 
in the same language. The hero then defended the 
Lord's Supper under both forms, although with most 
temperate words. On the 10th of May, the anniver- 



Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March, Etc. 

sary of the fall of Magdeburg, which fell on ascension 
day, he attended Lutheran service in the cathedral. 

On his exit he allowed money to be scattered 
among the multitude. 

He soon departed from Munich. A revolt among 
the upper Swabian peasants called him to the Iller. 
At the end of May 1632 all Bavaria except Ingolstadt 
was in the king's power. Max sent express messen- 
gers to Vienna to implore help from the emperor, who 
himself was uneasy concerning the situation. He 
hoped everything, however, from — Wallenstein. 

L.0FC. 



M 



X. 

Wallenstein Again General in Chief. The Fortress 
at Nuremberg* 



The reader will recall in the second chapter — A 
Retrospect — that the emperor Ferdinand in the 
Reichstag at Regensberg, had discharged Wallenstein 
at the urgent request of the Evangelical and the league 
princes, particularly Max of Bavaria. 

In the meantime Wallenstein had dwelt on his 
estates in Bohemia. His palace stands today in Prague, 
bearing testimony to his taste and wealth. He had a 
richly paid body-guard and a court household con- 
sisting of four chamberlains, twelve knights and sixty 
pages. Three hundred draft and saddle horses were 
in his stables and fed from marble cribs. Besides the 
rich revenues he obtained from his extensive estates 
in Moravia, Schleswig and Bohemia he controlled 
large deposits in banks at Venice and Amsterdam. 

He alone was the man who could save the Aus- 
trian monarchy. 

As Gustavus Adolphus was constantly and rap- 
idly gaining ground in Germany, the emperor sent 
baron Questenberg to' Wallenstein with the request 
to again take command of the army. But he declined. 

100 



Wallenstein- Again General in Chief, Etc. 

When he learned that he was only to have command 
under the emperor's son. he said to one of his confi- 
dants : "And if they offered me a commission along 
side of our Lord I would decline; for I must com- 
mand alone." 

The emperor was greatly dismayed at this refusal. 
He immediately wrote him a personal and very appeal- 
ing letter, that he might not desert him in time of 
greatest need. Wallenstein now pledged himself 
within three months to furnish the emperor an army 
of from 40-50,000 men. But he declared unequivo- 
cally that he would not accept a command. 

His recruiting drum sounded. From all sides old 
and young responded and collected around his newly 
unfolded flag of hope. They were allured by the high 
wages and the prospect of rich booty. Those in Bohe- 
mia and Moravia who did not volunteer were forced 
into service. The recruiting officers offered the young 
men a rope and a sum of money. "Now choose" they 
said. The army was in marching order in the spring 
of 1632, but the general was wanting. The emperor's 
repeated petitions that Wallenstein should undertake 
the command was denied. His pride had reserved for 
the last the direst humiliation of the German emperor. 

While the Saxons remained in Bohemia Wallen- 
stein resided in Znaim. The imperial ambassadors 
flocked thither to approach the all-powerful one. He 

101 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



scorned them all; finally the prince Eggenberg suc- 
ceeded in propitiating the evil spirit. 

But oh ! what conditions Wallenstein made ! 
There is nowhere in history a similar example of com- 
promise between chief and subject. The master 
became servant, the servant, master. Let us hear. 

i. The duke of Friedland is and shall remain 
commander-in-chief not only for the emperor, but also 
for the whole arch-duchy of Austria and for the 
Spanish. II. The emperor shall never be with the 
army, still less take command. III. As security for 
well-earned and suitable reward the duke of Friedland 
shall be granted in proper form one of the Austrian 
hereditary estates until after the war. IV. For reward 
extraordinary he shall be lord-paramount over such 
countries as he shall conquer in the German empire. 

V. The confiscation of wealth and property depends 
entirely upon the will of the duke of Friedland. 

VI. In matters of pardon the duke will follow his own 
pleasure. Without his approval, a pardon granted by 
the emperor is void. VII. Unconditional pardon shall 
(on account of the leniency of the emperor) be sought 
from the duke of Friedland alone. VIII. After a 
treaty of peace the duchy of Mecklenburg is to be 
guaranteed to the Duke of Friedland. IX. All the 
Austrian hereditary estates shall at all times be open 
to the duke and his troops." 

102 



Wallenstein Again General in Chief, Etc. 

In the beginning of April the emperor signed this 
humiliating and dishonorable agreement. 

The Catholic church rejoiced : Wallenstein was 
the man to drive the heretical king of Sweden from 
German soil. Pope Urban VIII sent the Friedlander 
a consecrated dagger with his apostolic blessing. "The 
fatherland of nations (Rome!)," he wrote to him, 
"has learned with great satisfaction that you, pious 
son of the church, have again been called into the 
German war. We pray the Lord of hosts that he may 
gloriously guide in your victorious hand the spear of 
heavenly vengeance, to punish those peoples who assail 
heaven, and to smother the sighs of the oppressed 
church. May the heavenly host join your hosts, who 
fight for the Lord." . . . 

Wallenstein's first act of war was the expulsion 
of the Saxons from Bohemia; his first triumph the 
humiliation of his arch enemy, the elector Max of 
Bavaria. The latter hastened from Regensburg to 
Eger to pay his respects to Wallenstein. A master 
in the art of deception and hypocrisy he embraced the 
Friedlander as his deliverer. In the Friedlander's 
eyes there shone in this farce the malicious fire of 
gratified revenge. 

A few days later the troops of the league joined 
Wallenstein at Eger, and marched with thunder and 
lightning, in the glare of the burning upper Palati- 

103 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



nate to Franconia. Wallenstein's haughtiness induced 
him to say: "Within a few days we shall see which 
of us is master in Germany, I or the Swede!" 

Gustavus Adolphus judging from the reports of 
the above facts thought Wallenstein's blow would 
strike the Saxons first. Now he learned it was to 
be aimed at him. 

Finding himself too weak to withstand the com- 
bined forces of the enemy in open field he hastened 
to Nuremberg.* He wanted to save this protestant city 
from the fate of Magdeburg, be to them shield, helm 
and girdle. He arrived in time to make the most care- 
ful preparations. With the help of the inhabitants 
mighty breastworks were raised within twenty hours. 
By the end of June an entire inaccessible fortress 
was completed. In a large wide circle the breast-works 
extended around the city. A deep trench surrounded 
the lines, the entrances were covered by crescents or 
hornworks. The black mouths of 300 cannon gaped 
at the enemy. The Nurenbergers had also provided 
richly-filled magazines. All male inhabitants between 
the ages of 18 and 60 to the number of 30,000 were 
obliged to take arms and were drilled daily. It was 
their duty to guard the less threatened points. The 
king, himself, was present early and late at all work 



* The real army of the king only numbered 18,000 men, 
Wallenstein's, on the contrary about 60,000. 

104 



Wallenstein Again General in Chief, Etc. 

and practice. He made his headquarters at the home 
of the patrician Leubelfing, whose son entered his ser- 
vice as page and remained at his side until death. 

The following song was composed in the city of 
Nuremberg : 

"Nuremberg, the glory of the nation, 
The enemy has sworn thy ruination. 
But God has graciously remembered thee 
And sent from Sweden, from beyond the sea 
A father who beneath the heaven's blue 
O'er thee keeps faithful watch with heroes true. 
Fail not their daily needs to supply 
For in their welfare thine also doth lie. 
Gladly would Magdeburg now all things do, 
Were't not too late, to have a friend so true." 

When Wallenstein received the news of the king's 
occupation of Nuremberg he considered it a small mat- 
ter to overpower him, and so end the war with one 
blow. But as he soon learned how excellently his 
opponent was intrenched he quickly changed his mind, 
repaired to Swalbach below Nuremberg across the 
Rebnitz, and occupied a height called the "old hill," 
which he fortified by trenches and breastworks. 

To the elector of Bavaria who insisted on a hasty 
decision he said cold-bloodedly: "We have given 
battle enough ; it is time to follow other tactics," 
105 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



Here for nine weeks from the beginning of July 
the two greatest generals of their century stood, fac- 
ing each other with the eyes of the world turned 
toward them. 

A little war was waged, which resulted for the 
most part to the advantage of the Swedes ; and many 
transports of cattle, grain and ammunition were taken 
by the skillful Swedish foragers. 

On the 24th of August after the king had 
increased his army to 45,000 men by the union of 
Oxenstjerna's, Baner's and the duke of Weimar's 
forces, he stormed Wallenstein's camp for ten 
hours; but in vain. With great loss of life he was 
obliged to retreat to his ramparts. A cannon-ball tore 
away the sole of the king's boot, throwing him from 
his horse. "It is nothing" he said on rising, "the 
apple is not yet ripe." 

Naturally Wallenstein's army also suffered 
greatly. Famine and sickness caused still further loss 
of life. It was on this account that the strict disci- 
pline relaxed. This is obvious from the king's 
remarks to his assembled German officers. "Princes, 
lords and nobles," he said, "you who help to destroy 
your own land ! My heart is embittered by the com- 
plaint which I hear that soldiers of my army are con- 
sidered more disgraceful than even those of the enemy. 
Not the Swedes but the Germans defile themselves 



10fi 



Wallenstein Again General in Chief, Etc. 

with excesses. Had I known that you Germans car- 
ried in your hearts so little love and loyalty for your 
native country, I had not, on your account, saddled a 
horse, let alone put at stake my crown and my life. 
I sacrificed everything and neither from you nor your 
empire have I received enough to clothe myself 
meanly ; and in fact would rather ride naked than robe 
myself by theft. If you are willing to deny God and 
your honor, nevertheless, all Christendom shall know 
that I was willing to sacrifice my life ; and if you 
should now rebel against me, I will know how to 
defend myself with my Swedes and Finlanders. 
Reflect and consider that you will be called upon to 
give an account to God for your actions. I am so 
grieved that it vexes me longer to mingle with you. 

A German servant at this moment passed by, 
leading a stolen cow. The king took the thief by the 
hair and handed him over to the executioner with the 
words : "It is better that I punish you immediately 
than that God should chastise not only you hut me and 
the entire army." 

All were astonished at the king's anger. 

On the 8th of September Gustavus Adolphus 
broke camp at Nuremberg. Only General Kniphausen 
remained with 4500 men to protect the city. In full 
view of the enemy and with the bands playing, the 
Swedish army marched to Neustadt on the Aisch; 

107 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



From there to Windsheim. Larger companies were 
sent to upper Bavaria and the Rhine. 

But even Wallenstein could not remain longer on 
account of hunger and misery. Five days later he too 
broke camp and went to Forchheim. Because of the 
scarcity of draught-horses he was obliged to leave 
behind much equipment, weapons and such things — 
a booty which came handy to the Nurembergers. In 
Bamberg the elector of Bavaria with his army of 
9,000 men parted from Wallenstein to render his own 
country assistance. Wallenstein's intention was to 
exhaust Franconia and Thuringen next. After doing 
this thoroughly, — the chronicles of this country re- 
port frightful things — he took his course to Saxony. 
Scarcely had the elector received the news of the 
approach of the evil guest, when he dispatched mes- 
sengers to Gustavus Adolphus. The latter was just 
on the point of besieging Ingolstadt. A march to 
Saxony appeared more urgent to him. Had he at this 
time refused the elector the desired assistance, the 
unreliable confederate would have been induced to 
throw himself into Wallenstein's army. Therefore 
forward ! 

In Arnstadt the king again joined forces with 
Duke Bernhard of Saxe- Weimar. Here he vouchsafed 
his army, unstrung by the long and rapid march, a 
few days rest. His troops numbered only 1,300 men. 

.108 



Wallenstein Again General in Chief, Etc. 

In Erfurt he met his wife after a long separation. 
The meeting was exceedingly joyous, the parting there- 
fore the more painful. Never had husband and wife 
experienced such grief. The queen had here the 
opportunity to speak with Jacob Ericson, the body- 
guard. She begged him earnestly not to desert his 
royal master, and to bring him back to her alive or 
dead. From the head of the departing army the king 
called to his wife : "If we never see each other again 
here, we will meet in the future world. Farewell I" 

On the entrance into the Saxon city of Naum- 
burg, he was received with indescribable exultation. 
The people crowded around him and prostrated them- 
selves. 

The action displeased the king. To the chaplain 
accompanying him he said seriously : "Our Saxons 
are otherwise well enough, but I fear the Lord will 
punish me for their folly. These people seem to want 
to make me their idol, and I am only a weak mortal. 
Lord, Lord," he prayed turning his eyes heavenward, 
"I commend myself to thy omniscient providence and 
pray that thou mayest not leave unfinished the work 
begun for the glory of Thy name.' ' 

Wallenstein had meanwhile reached Leipzig. His 
plan was to press forward to Dresden. As he was 
about to cross the Mulda at Grimma he heard the news 
of Gustavus Adolphus' presence at Naumburg. It 

109 



Gusiavus Adolphus in Germany. 



was at once apparent to him that he was pursued for 
the protection of the Saxons. He turned about to 
resist the enemy. He marched to Weisenfels by way 
of Leipzig, and detached the generals Snys and Breda 
to garrison the pass at Saal and the bridge at Kosen. 
The Swedes had anticipated them. Wallenstein and 
his generals concluded that the king only intended to 
occupy a defense for the winter. In this belief he 
issued the order to Pappenheim to advance to West- 
phalia, but incidentally to take the weakly-fortified 
city of Moritzburg in Halle. He dispatched count 
Colleredo to Weisenfels ; general Snys to Zwickau to 
keep guard of the king from all sides. He, himself 
encamped at Merseberg between the canal and the 
Saal. 

As soon as the king was informed of Pappen- 
heim's departure, he firmly decided to attack Wallen- 
stein. He broke camp at Naumburg. 



110 



XL 

The Battle of Luctzcn. 



When the king was half way between Naumburg 
and Pegau, about ten o'clock in the morning on the 5th 
of November in severe cold weather, he learned that 
Wallenstein's army was encamped in the villages 
around Liitzen. He exclaimed joyfully, "I now firmly 
believe that God has given the enemy into our hands !" 
He immediately sent a larger division for the occu- 
pation of Weisenfels. Colleredo was about to evacu- 
ate this place, when he saw from the castle on the 
heights the entire Swedish army advance toward 
Liitzen. He hastened to notify Wallenstein, who at 
once wrote Pappenheim to return without delay that 
the enemy had already reached Rippacher pass.* 

The king spent the last night of his life in a coach ; 
the army encamped in an open field. During the entire 
night there was a great commotion in the enemy's 
camp. Three cannon-shots summoned the scattered 
regiments ; Wallenstein's adjutants were speeding in 



* This letter, drenched in Pappenheim's blood, for he 
still had it in his possession when the fatal bullet struck him 
during the battle of Liitzen, is preserved in the imperial 
archives at Vienna. 

Ill 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



all directions. Picks and shovels burrowed into the 
frozen ground to erect a bulwark for the musketeers, 
and the trenches on both sides of the high-way between 
Leipzig and Lutzen were made deeper. Wallenstein's 
position was north of this road, which his front ranks 
covered. His right wing rested on Lutzen and the 
windmills here; the left extended into the open field 
toward the ditch. 

Four immense squares of infantry formed the cen- 
ter of the imperial army; here Wallenstein himself 
was stationed. Smaller squares in front resembled 
advancing bastions. On the highway there was a bat- 
tery about which a murderous encounter was about 
to develop. The remaining batteries tarried in the 
neighborhood of the windmills. To the right and left 
of the infantry there were long columns of Picolo- 
mini's cuirassiers, and beyond these were hordes of 
Croates. The Swedes crossed the ditch without oppo- 
sition. Their line of battle was the same as at Leip- 
zig. The cavalry was everywhere interspersed with 
divisions of musketeers of 80-100 men. The king 
commanded the right wing, Duke Bernard of Wei- 
mar the left, and Nils Brahe the centre. The brave 
Scotsman, Henderson, and general Ohm of the Palati- 
nate commanded the reserve. Five large cannon were 
in front of every Swedish brigade, 40 smaller ones in 
the space between the cavalry and infantry. 

112 



The Battle of Luetzen 



A heavy fog, which only began to disperse toward 
ten o'clock in the morning, hung over the plain at 
Lutzen, on the 6th day of November, 1632. The Swed- 
ish army conducted their morning devotions, sang, 
amid the clang of drum and fife, Luther's hymn : "A 
mighty fortress is our God." After this the king him- 
self joyfully sang: "Jesus Christ, our Saviour, who 
conquered death." 

When Jacob Ericson pleaded earnestly with the 
king as he mounted his charger to wear his armor, — 
for he had solemnly promised the queen to take all 
possible care of the king, he answered: "God is my 
shield !" In a simple doublet over which he had drawn 
a cloth coat he rode through the ranks of his soldiers 
and addressed them with encouraging words. "Only 
fight bravely !" said he to several German cavalry regi- 
ments, "you fight not only under my command, but 
with me and along side of me. With God's help I 
hope for a victory that shall be a blessing to your 
remotest grandchildren !" 

After these words to which the entire army re- 
sponded with clang of weapons and joyous shouts the 
king exclaimed : "Now to work in God's name. Jesus, 
Jesus, let us fight to-day in the glory of Thy name!" 
and brandishing his sword over his head he gave the 
command: "Forward!" 

Lutzen was in flames, — the work of the imperial- 
ly 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



ists. The king was at this moment accompanied by 
Duke Francis of Saxen-Lauenburg, the chamberlain 
Truchsess, the page Leubelfing, several adjutants and 
two body-guards, of which Jacob Ericson was one. 

The rapidly advancing right wing of the Swedes 
received a heavy fire from the guns and muskets. 
Nevertheless three brigades pressed across the high- 
way, took the battery, overthrew two of the enemy's 
platoons and were about to capture the third when they 
were forced to retreat by the superior forces of the 
foe. 

The Swedish horses which at sight of the deep 
trenches had hesitated, finally crossed them. The king 
was in the front squadron. Here he was informed 
of the speedy victory of his men. "God, God I thank 
thee," he prayed with uncovered head. 

Opposite him were the imperial cuirassiers, from 
head to foot rigid in iron. 

"Stahlhandski" the king called to the leader of 
the Finnish riders, "attack the black fellows, they will 
make us suffer !" 

He now learned of the weakening of his infantry. 
At the head of his Samland cavalry he hastened to 
their assistance, — all too eagerly — for becoming sep- 
arated from his troops on account of the mist and 
powder-smoke he found himself in the ranks of the 
enemy's cavalry. His horse was wounded; a pistol 

114 



The Battle of Luetzen 



shot at close range soon shattered his left arm. "Take 
me from the turmoil, brother," he said to the Duke of 
Lauenberg; at the same moment he received a shot 
in the back. With the cry: "My God, my God," he 
fell from his horse, which dragged him some distance 
as he remained fastened in his stirrups. 

Of the two body-guards, who had accompanied 
the king thus far, one was about dead, the other, Jacob 
Ericson, was seriously wounded and unable to render 
his monarch assistance, but he kept his eyes glued to 
the spot where his master had fallen. 

The Duke of Lauenberg had fled ; the page Leu- 
belfing was with the king and tendered him his horse. 
The king stretched out his hands, but the page, him- 
self wounded, had not the strength to raise him 
unaided from the ground. 

The imperial cuirassiers now approached asking 
"Who is this?" Leubelfing was silent, when the 
severely-wounded king called out : "I am the king of 
Sweden !" whereon one of the enemy shot him through 
the head. 

The chamberlain Truchsess first carried the news 
of this catastrophe to the duke of Weimar. The king's 
bloody, wildly-roving charger spread the dreadful 
tidings from rank to rank. 

The experienced Kniphausen advised an orderly 
retreat. 

115 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



The fiery duke Bernhard cried courageously : "No 
retreat ! Revenge ! Revenge ! Victory or death !" 

An officer who demurred against his order he 
pierced with his sword. 

He rode hastily from the left wing to the right 
and assumed command. 

"Forward!" was the order to all columns. It is 
necessary to avenge the death of the king. With pow- 
erful energy the Swedes rushed on the enemy. In the 
twinkling of an eye the batteries and squadrons were 
re-captured, and the entire imperial cavalry thrown on 
this wing. The confusion was great, but was increased 
when Swedish bombs exploded the gun-carriages that 
stood behind the imperial front. The cry of terror 
sounded: "The enemy is already in our rear!" 
Every one fled. 

Taking advantage of this moment, the left Swed- 
ish wing took the enemy's guns at the wind-mills.. 

Pappenheim now appeared. His first question 
was: "Where does the king of Sweden command ?" 
He threw himself into the place designated. It was 
his sincerest desire to measure arms with him, who 
now was no longer on earth. Carried into the mur- 
derous tumult by the savage lust of war, he hastened 
to his fate. General Stalhandski, who had just res- 
cued from the hands of the rapacious Croates the nude 
corpse of the king, which disfigured with blood and 

116 



The Battle of Luetzen 

■ .' . • 1 i . . ;dj i ': ■•:■ :1 -.- • .. Q • 

wounds was lying face to the ground, shot him down. 

The battle still raged and roared. Advantage and 
loss vacillated hither and thither. Wallenstein's cav- 
alry and infantry plunged as with the desperate 
strength of wounded lions upon the Swedes. Yet 
these for the most part tried veteran troops stood firm, 
and as they fell their rigid bodies covered in rows the 
same ground which in life they had defended. 

The declining day hastened the decision. 

The Swedish reserve had not yet entered the fight. 
Duke Bernhard imagined them long hewn to pieces, 
but he now found in them a powerful support for his 
broken regiments. 

Like a hurricane he broke upon the enemy with 
this new force. Those who were not seriously wounded 
or dying roused themselves to a share in this new tri- 
umph. 

This last encounter was terrible. The ever-thin- 
ning wall of exhausted human bodies quivered and 
fell. But like a Phoenix rising out of blood, death 
and destruction, Swedish victory arose from the blood- 
stained spot. Pappenheim's infantry, which had just 
appeared in the field, was carried along in the general 
flight of the imperialists. Victory ! victory ! yelled the 
Swedish regiments. They spent the cold winter night 
on this battle-field which was reeking with powder- 
smoke and human blood. 
117 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



Late in the night Wallenstein reached Leipzig, 
to which place the dying Pappenheim had been carried 
a few hours earlier. 

As the latter here received the news of Gustavus 
Adolphus' death his face brightened, and his dim eyes 
flashed once again with the extinguishing heroic 
spirit. 

'Tell the Duke of Friedland," said he, "that I am 
prostrate without a ray of hope, but that I go hence 
contented and joyous since I know that the most irrec- 
oncilable enemy of my church is no more." 

The Swedes were victors, but they did not rejoice 
over it, on the contrary they were filled with dismay 
and grief, for their royal chief was missing, whom the 
now widowed and orphaned army had so tenderly 
loved. — 

Let us refer here to judgments and estimates of 
Gustavus Adolphus from various standpoints. 

Axel Oxenstjerna said of him : "He was a ruler, 
God-fearing in all his acts and deeds, even unto death." 

A Catholic historian expresses himself thus: 
"The whole army was deeply grieved over his death ! 
for every soldier loved him dearly. Some bemoaned 
his youth; others his bravery; but all, the splendid 
endowments of the ruler and the not less brilliant ones 
of the warrior. He possessed in like degree courage 
and wisdom ; ardent in attack, he was none the less 



118 



The Battle of Luetzen 



careful to preserve the prize. Fortune favored him 
since after so many battles and constant victories he 
was triumphant at his death, and that a long list of 
victories crowned even his grave." 

The Swedish historian Gustavus Geiger said of 
him : "He was humble in heart and recognized in his 
calling a noble charge. It was far from him to value 
himself as indispensable, for he placed the goal far 
above his personality. There never existed a more 
joyous heroism. It is true, his great thoughts were 
extinguished with his life on the battlefield at Liitzen. 
But even in death he conquered." 

Franz Mauritius said: "Gustavus Adolphus was 
at least in equal degree a German, as William of 
Orange, whom the British in national pride to this 
day look upon as a deliverer of their religious liberty, 
was an Englishman." 

Gustavus Freytag writes of him : "Gustavus Adol- 
phus' end was considered a national calamity, the 
people had lost a deliverer, a saviour. A cry of grief 
rang through all Protestant countries ; in city and 
country funeral services were conducted ; elegies were 
innumerable; even the enemies masked their joy be- 
hind manly sympathy, such as in those times was never 
accorded an opponent. We also recognize in the figure 
of Gustavus Adolphus much of the brilliancy which 

119 



Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



distinguished him in the eyes of his contemporaries 
from other generals and princes." 

In these excellent testimonies may the portrait of 
the noble Gustavus Adolphus be preserved to a grate- 
ful German people. 



120 



xn. 

In the Royal Church at Wittenberg* 



The night of the 13th to 14th of November in 
the year 1632 was bitter cold. In the streets the snow 
creaked, the stars twinkled in the deep blue vault of 
heaven. The new moon was setting, the necessary 
light in the streets of Luther's city, Wittenberg, from 
the long bridge over the Elbe to the royal chapel, was 
furnished by a double column of citizens carrying 
burning torches. A great multitude of people were 
assembled ; a deep stillness reigned. Earnestness, 
grief and sorrow were depicted on all faces. 

The tolling of the bell began, muffled drums were 
heard in the distance, the firm tread of warriors ap- 
proached ; the king's body was escorted to Wittenberg 
for the night. 

Four hundred Samland cavalrymen, the remnant 
of the heroic regiment at whose head the king had 
fallen in the mortal combat at Liitzen, constituted the 
guard of honor. As the hearse drew up before the 
ehapel door, twelve riders dismounted and bore the 
coffin before the high altar. 

Only the magistrates and students were assembled 
in the church. A dirge was sung, the superintendent 

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Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 



made a brief address. The audience left the church; 
a gloomy stillness soon reigned in the large auditorium. 
The burning tapers at the altar threw their flickering 
light on the guards surrounding the bier, who ap- 
peared more like statues than like living beings. 

This Wittenberger royal chapel is a large his- 
torical building. Doubly important this night. Deep 
in the somber vault slept Luther, who had as God's 
implement without fear of man brought about the 
Reformation; over him rested the mortal remains of 
Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, who had guarded 
the work with the sword, and heroically gone to his 
death in its defense. Eighty-five years before the 
emperor Charles V had stood on this spot as victor 
over the Protestant princes, and had spurned the ad- 
vice of the benighted Roman Catholic Alba to destroy 
Luther's sepulchre, with the words: "I do not war 
with the dead, but with the living !" — To-day the 
political situation was reversed : the emperor and 
Roman Catholic Germany were the vanquished ones. 

A royal servant had led the king's favorite horse 
after the hearse. Now this man Jacob Ericson, the 
fallen king's bodyguard, with the burgomaster and 
two senators, were in the sacristy of the royal church. 
Ericson carried his arm in a sling; he was, as we 
know, also wounded at Liitzen, near the king. 

A November night is very long; in the sacristy 
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In the Royal Church at Wittenberg. 



a pleasant warmth prevailed, and the three Witten- 
berger counsellors, good Evangelical citizens, longed 
to hear particulars of the death of the great king. 
The faithful old Ericson was, of course, the proper 
man to impart this information. 

"The report is circulated," said the burgomaster 
with suppressed voice in deep regard for the place 
and the subject, "that the king was slain treacher- 
ously." 

"The duke Francis von Lauenberg is designated 
as his murderer," responded Ericson, "but do not be- 
lieve it ! The people like to regard the death of great 
men like their birth, as extraordinary." 

"But the duke is said to have fled immediately 
to Weisenfels," remarked one of the senators. 

"Probably because he feared for his own life," 
added Ericson; "for to my knowledge he has never 
displayed any particularly heroic nature. I saw dis- 
tinctly that the king was honorably wounded in the 
thick of battle after he had felled with his sword 
several of the enemies who had rushed upon him." 
"And where was the body of the king found?" 
"Not three horses-length from the spot where I 
saw him fall from the saddle, without being able, on 
account of my own physical weakness, to hasten to 
him. In spite of severe pains in my shattered leg, I 
tried the next day, with help of several peasants from 
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Gustdvus Adolphus in Germany. 



Meuchen, to roll a large rock to the spot; but I had 
to desist from the heavy work. The spot is about 
forty steps farther to the right on a ridge between 
the fields, where an Acacian tree stands." 

"And what happened then?" inquired the burgo- 
master. 

"We took the body to Meuchen first. Here it 
was deposited before the altar in the church. A 
surgeon examined him and found it necessary to dis- 
embowel him immediately. A part of the entrails 
were entombed the next day under a stone in a wall 
of the church. 1 After a fervent prayer by the village 
pastor the body was taken to the schoolmaster's house, 
and as this was found too small, to that of a neighbor. 

Here it was placed on a long table. 2 The schoolmas- 
ter, who was at the same time a carpenter, constructed 
a plain coffin in which the remains were transferred 
to Weisenfels on the next day. The royal corpse was 
here embalmed by the apothecary Casparus. 

"Nine wounds were found on the body. All in- 
ternal organs were entirely healthy; the heart was 
uncommonly large; it weighed a pound and ten 



1 This spot, distinguishable by the Swedish coat of arms, 
was examined in 1632, when on removing the stone from the 
wall, a partly decayed urn of oak was found. 

2 This same table was exhibited twenty years ago, per- 
haps it is yet preserved. 

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In the Royal Church at Wittenberg. 

ounces. Never shall I forget the grief of the queen 
when she beheld the body of her husband. The once 
beautiful woman looked like a shadow. She kissed 
the king's face, moistened it with her tears and only 
separated from her dear departed one upon the urgent 
entreaties of those around her. At ten o'clock in the 
evening we left Weisenfels. In all the cities through 
which we passed the bells tolled, young and old, rich 
and poor paid tribute to the departed king." 

With such and similar conversation the night 
wore on. 

At dawn the procession again began. The three 
Wittenberger magistrates accompanied it to the Mark 
of Brandenburg. 

In the Ridderholm church in Stockholm rest the 
ashes of Gustavus Adolphus, the great king of Sweden. 



125 



NOV 8 1906 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS! 




